


Lunch With the Doctor

by Inthelittledoctor



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: AU, Angst, F/M, Fluff, Human!Doctor, Smut, Time Travel, Workplace AU, dumb inventions, whouffaldi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-11
Updated: 2016-05-08
Packaged: 2018-05-01 05:46:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 33,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5194448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inthelittledoctor/pseuds/Inthelittledoctor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John Smith was in no need of anyone to care for him. He could care for himself, thank you very much. But of course, Clara Oswald, the woman who worked in the cubicle in front of his office, had other ideas for him and decided she would personally take up the job of being his carer. Who would've known that that job would last for life?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Lunch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clara decides to bring in lunch for a co-worker who never eats.

Doctor John Smith was a very average office worker. He would go to work, get his work done, and more often than not, skip lunch. It wasn't that he didn't want to eat, quite the contrary, he always went home starving. He knows he should eat at work, but there's just so much work and he doesn't want to waste any of his work time eating because that means he'd have to work overtime to get all of his work done for that day, having wasted a precious thirty minutes eating. So he simply just didn't eat lunch, and that became a normal thing for him, so normal that he'd stopped bringing a lunch to work. 

Of course if you don't eat lunch, someone is bound to notice. And after about two weeks of John not eating lunch, a very nosy girl that worked in the cubicle in front of his office noticed. Her name, Clara Oswald. She'd stop working around lunch time and bolt to the break room, grabbing her lunch before bounding back to her cubicle, plopping herself down into her chair and scouting out John's door while nibbling at her lunch. Once her lunch break was over, she'd get back to work, occasionally peeking over her shoulder to see if he had left his office to get lunch yet. 

One day she'd seen him finally come out of his office, only to go to the cubicle next to hers and throw some paper work onto their desk, before quickly striding back to his office. She's pursing her lips before resolving to check the fridge the next day to see if he even brings a lunch. That puts her mind to ease as she looks back at her computer and gets to work. 

The next day, she's taking her lunch break an hour early, taking quick steps to the break room and opening the fridge, looking around and seeing no lunch marked with his name. She's furrowing her brow and hastily grabbing her lunch, rushing her way back to her cubicle and staring at his office for the next hour, arguing with herself over whether she should talk to him or not. She eventually breaks and finds herself standing up and walking to his office, gently knocking on his door. 

She's hearing an annoyed grunt from the other side of the door and assuming that means it okay for her to come in, so she's cracking the door open, peaking her head in and grinning at him. 

'Hello!' She's chirping, her tone welcoming. 

'What do you need?' He's questioning angrily, not looking up from his computer.

'No need to be rude,' she's saying, a mocking pout on her lips. 

He's glaring up at her, obviously annoyed by her presence in his office. 'Did you come in here just to bother me?' He's spitting out. 

She's opening his door wider, taking a step into his office, trying to keep a professional manner about her. 'No, I actually came here to talk about your eating habits,' she's replying, a false confidence in her voice. 

He's raising an eyebrow and she's explaining,'I haven't seen you eat lunch for the past two weeks.'

He's clearing his throat and looking back at his computer, stating,'My eating habits are now of your business, now if you would leave me to my work, that would be much appreciated.'

She's huffing and turning around, determined to have the last word,'Sorry for wasting your time, Mr. Smith.'

He's quickly correcting her before she can step out of his office, saying gruffly,'Doctor.' 

A smirk is finding it's way onto her lips and she's looking back at him, a mischievous look in her eyes. 'Sorry, _Doctor_ ,' She's teasing. 

And before he can correct once again and tell her it's Doctor Smith, she's slamming the door behind her, mentally praising herself for getting the last word. 

-

The next day, John's sitting down at his desk to find a note tapped to the top of his computer monitor. He's quickly tearing it off, going to throw it away before seeing a name that looks strangely familiar name scrawled at the bottom of the note. He's sighing and moving away from the garbage bin, reading the note and feeling his eyebrow raise as he reaches the end of it. 

_Sorry about yesterday! I know it was probably a tad bit creepy to know that I've been basically monitoring your eating habits at work. I really only want to make sure you're eating properly and not starving yourself or anything like that. I hope you wouldn't mind meeting me in the break room today at your lunch break?_  
_-Clara_

And suddenly he's realising why that name sounds so familiar. He's seen it on the cubicle in front of his office time and time again. That must be how she's monitoring whether or not he's eating lunch. He's sticking her note to corner of his monitor and quickly getting to work, working faster than he thinks he's ever worked before. By the time his lunch break rolls around, he's gotten the majority of his work done for the day. He's smiling at himself as he lays back in his chair and casts a quick glance towards her note, his smile widening as he remembers who's waiting for him. 

Of course he should hate her, for the only conversation he's had with her has ended with unkind tones and door slamming. Although he can't quite find it in himself to hate her, knowing that she only has good intentions in mind. He's standing up and making his way towards the break room, not quite looking forward to seeing her, but also not quite dreading it. 

He's stepping into the break room, finding her leaning on the counter, drinking what he presumes is coffee. 

'Clara,' he's stating, causing her to look up at him. 

She's smiling at him and placing her mug on the counter behind her, saying cheerfully,'I didn't actually expect you to come.'

'Well,' he's saying, gesturing towards himself with one hand,'Here I am.' 

Her smile is widening and she's reaching behind her, withdrawing a sandwich from the counter and holding it up in front of her. 

'Lunch,' she's stating simply. 

He's raising an eyebrow at her and asking,'You made me a sandwich?'

She's nodding and tossing it at him, causing him to flinch before holding his hands up to catch it. To his surprise, he's actually catching it, causing a smile to play at his lips. He's looking at the sandwich for a moment and noticing a name written on that bag it's in, breathing out a laugh as he reads it. 

'You do realise my name isn't Doctor, right?' He's questioning. 

'Maybe you shouldn't have been so quick to correct me yesterday and you wouldn't have earned yourself this nickname,' she's teasing. 

He's casting her a glare before striding over to her and spinning around, leaning back on the counter next to her. She's picking her mug back up and sipping at it as she watches him take his sandwich out of the bag and stuff the bag into his coat pocket. He's taking a bite from the sandwich and staring at the floor in front of his feet, trying not to show how thankful he really is for her bringing him something to eat. 

He's finishing his lunch in silence, staring at the floor for a moment before looking up at her, seeing her staring intently at him. She's quickly darting her gaze away from him and to the empty mug in front of her, a faint blush creeping onto her cheeks. His lips are betraying him as they curl up into a smile, noticing how cute she looks while blushing. And it's at this moment that he's actually allowing himself to look at her. He's examining her shoulder length hair and the way her nose crooks out at the end. He's noticing that her eyes are much wider than he thought and her lips are much more inviting than they have the right to be. 

He's seeing her glance over at him and watching the way her lips become even more tempting just by the simple smirk that appears on them. He's hearing her huff out a laugh before placing her empty mug down and crossing her arms, looking over at him. 

'I suppose we should probably get back to work now,' she's saying, a slight hint of disappointment in her voice. 

He's nodding and thanking her for the lunch, walking out of the break room and leaving her alone to think through what exactly just happened. 

-

He's arriving at work the next day, surprisingly happier than he had been in a long time. He's stopping in front of his office door and glancing behind him, seeing no sign of Clara. He's feeling a slight pang of disappointment go through him before shaking it off and opening up his office door. He's walking to his desk and slowly sitting down in his seat, looking around his monitor for notes and finding none, feeling his disappointment grow. 

He knows he shouldn't be disappointed. She's probably not enjoyed his company the other day and decided not to bring him lunch again. He's sighing before quickly getting to work, trying to push any thought of her out of his mind. His efforts are proving useless as she finds her way into his thoughts every time he thought he'd finally pushed her away far enough. As his lunch break rolls around, he's hearing a gentle knock at his door. He's quickly dropping everything and jumping out of his chair, walking quickly towards the door. He's pulling it open to see a grinning face greeting him, and suddenly a smile is tugging at his lips. 

'Ms. Oswald,' he's saying, his voice more cheery than he had initially intended. 

She's laughing at the tone of his voice and replying,'Doctor.' 

He's gesturing back at his computer and questioning,' I've a few more things to finish up. Is that okay?' 

She's not replying and simply just strolling into his office, sitting down on one of the chairs in front of his desk. She's looking back at him and nodding towards his desk, saying calmly,'Go on then. I can wait.'

He's smiling appreciatively at her and quickly making his way back to his desk, falling down onto his seat and placing his hands on his keyboard, only to look up and see her gazing at him. He's holding her gaze for a moment, feeling the sudden urge to lean over his desk and plant his lips on hers. He's quickly shaking that thought out of his head and looking at his computer, only to promptly get distracted as he sees her biting her lip out of the corner of his eye. 

He's sighing in defeat and saying,'Y'know what? This can wait. Lunch, however, cannot.'

He's standing up and having her mirror him, flashing him a quick smile as he goes to look at her. He's attempting to smile back and walking to the break room, looking behind him occasionally to make sure she was close behind. And of course, she always was. As he gets to the break room, he's making his way towards the counter and spinning around, leaning on it and grinning at her mischievously. 

She's pointing at the fridge with her thumb and stating,'Your lunch is in the fridge.' 

His grin is fading and his eyes are filling with curiosity,'You brought me another lunch?' 

She's laughing at him and replying,'Of course I did, you daft old man. Couldn't just bring you lunch for one day and then stop, could I?'

He's smiling at her and hastily making his way to the fridge. He's opening it and peeking into it, seeing a lunch in a grocery bad sitting on the top shelf with two words written on it. 

The Doctor. 

He's looking back at her with a questioning look before grabbing his lunch out of the fridge and joining her back at the counter. He's untying the bag and looking into it, the first thing catching his eye being a sandwich similar to the one yesterday. He's taking it out of the bag and throwing the rest of the contents of the bag on the counter behind him. He's going the same thing he did the day before, shoving the sandwich bag into his pocket and going to take a bite out of the sandwich only to have her grab it from him. He's raising an eyebrow at her as she takes a bite of the sandwich and hands it back to him. 

'Do you seriously expect me to eat that after you've just taken a bite out of it?' He's asking in disbelief. 

'Just eat around the part I bit out of,' she's replying casually. 

He's sighing and reaches out to take the sandwich back, his fingers grazing hers as he does so. He's quickly pulling back and taking a bite of the sandwich to stop himself from making any unnecessary comments. And just like that, they're eating lunch in silence, her stealing little parts of his lunch every once and a while. By the time they finished, she found herself sitting on the counter, her knee nearly touching his arm. Then finally he's breaking the silence by clearing his throat and looking at her. 

'Dinner.' He's stating. 

She's narrowing her eyes and questioning,'Dinner?' 

He's looking at her before quickly realising all of his words hadn't come out. 'Would you like to have dinner? With me. Tonight.' He's asking, his words collapsing towards the end of his question. 

She's breathing out a laugh before replying,'I would love to.' 

And with that she's slipping her hand into his and intertwining her fingers with his, and for some strange reason, he feels his heart skip a beat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Kudos if you enjoyed and comments are always appreciated.


	2. Not a Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Doctor and Clara have dinner and debate whether or not it's a date.

When he'd asked her to dinner, she hadn't expected anything too terribly formal. Just dinner with a friend from work, thanking her from bringing him lunches and making sure he properly took care of himself during the work day. So she'd thrown on a nice blouse with a light grey jumper and a pair of black jeans, then made her way to his flat, not too terribly worried about the dinner. It was just dinner, what was there to worry about?

And as she's knocking on his door, she's reassuring herself that she hasn't just made a terrible mistake by agreeing to have dinner with someone who's almost a complete stranger to her. She's watching the door open and almost immediately thinking that she's made a horrible mistake. There he stands, in all his six foot glory, dressed in what she assumed were his pyjamas with a hoodie and dress coat thrown over. He's grinning at her and she's damning herself for not running away earlier, because as soon as she sees that smile, she knows she can't leave him. She's smiling back at him, trying her best not to let her regret shine through her smile.

'Hello,' she's saying sweetly. 

'Hello, Clara Oswald,' he's replying, his grin somehow managing to grow wider as he says her name. 

She's looking at him for a moment and realising that she is most definitely stuck here eating dinner with him, knowing that it would probably break his heart to have her leave and she would probably regret leaving more than staying. He's gesturing for her to come in and stepping out of the way, closing the door behind her as she steps in. 

'Is pizza alright?' He's asking suddenly. 

She's looking at him for a moment like he's mad before huffing out a laugh. 'We're having pizza?' 

'So, no pizza?' He's questioning, his eyebrow raising. 

'No, no. Pizza's fine, I just can't exactly imagine you eating pizza,' she's replying, amusement evident in her voice. 

He's giving her a crooked grin before striding over to his couch and falling down onto it, telling her to make herself at home. She's cautiously walking towards him, looking at him sceptically for a moment before sitting down next to him. 

'This isn't exactly what I had in mind when you asked me to dinner,' she's stating. 

He's looking at her, his brow furrowing and a glimmer of worry in his eyes,'Sorry, did I do something wrong?'

She's shaking her head no and quickly replying,'This is honestly starting off much better than most of the dates I've been on.'

'Is this a date?' He's asking, his voice suddenly deep. 

'No,' she's replying too quickly, her voice littered with confusion because she honestly had no clue if this was a date or not. 

He's looking at her in silence for a moment before standing up and hastily making his way to the kitchen. She's letting out a deep breath and mumbling to herself,'Good job, Oswald.' 

She's hearing his deep voice from the kitchen, his words sounding like mumbling from the living room. She's standing up and wandering towards the kitchen, getting there just in time to see him hang up his phone and place it rather harshly on the counter. She's leaning against the doorway to the kitchen and crossing her arms as she watches him brace himself against the counter.

'Not a date,' he's mumbling to himself before snorting out a laugh and pushing himself off the counter, spinning towards the kitchen doorway only to see her leaning doorframe. 

'Hi,' he's stating awkwardly. 

She's laughing and replying,'Hello, Doctor.'

The corner of his lips are curling upward at her nickname for him and he's taking a step towards her, pointing back at his phone and stating,'Dinner in thirty minutes. Unless you'd like to leave.' 

She's smiling at him and saying,'You don't think you can get rid of me that easily do you?'

His eyes are filling with hope and he's breathing out a laugh,'Suppose not.'

Her smiling is widening and she's standing up straight. 'Would you like to get back to our not-date?' She's asking teasingly. 

He's pressing his lips together and staring at her for a moment before walking up to her and whispering,'Shut up.'

For some unexplainable reason, the feel of his warm breath on her face sends a shiver down her spine. She's quickly taking a step away from him and her smile is fading as she turns on her heel. She's making her way quickly back to the living room and plopping down on the couch, watching him enter after her and sit down next to her. She's looking at him and biting her lip slightly, trying to ignore the feeling of her heart fluttering in her chest. 

'Why did you say yes to dinner with me?' He's asking suddenly, looking over at her. 

Her eyes are widening slightly as she sees him look over at her and she's hesitating before replying,'I was honestly curious to know what you were like outside of work.'

He's laughing at that and asking,'And what exactly do you think of me now that you've seen me outside of work?'

She's looking down at her feet then, trying to think of the right words to describe him only to come up with nothing. Apparently she's lost in her thoughts for too long because she being dragged out of them by a deep voice. 

'That bad, huh?' He's joking. 

'You're absolutely horrid outside of work,' she's joking back. 

They spend the next thirty minutes asking each other questions about the others lives and teasing each other all throughout the questions. By the time their food actually does get there, they're sitting much closer to each other and the tips of their fingers are touching. He's quickly jumping up as he hears a knock at door and apologising about their proximity before quickly bounding over to the door. He's opening it and greeting the man on the other side of the door, quickly grabbing their food and handing the man some money, sending him on his way. 

He's striding over towards her and placing the pizza on the coffee table, looking over at her and smiling before stating,'Pizza.'

'Why'd you apologise for being close to me?' She's asking suddenly, her eyes trained on her feet. 

'What?' He's questioning, his brow furrowing. 

'Before you got up, you apologised for being so close to me. Why'd you do that?' She's asking curiously. 

'This isn't a date,' he's replying darkly, clasping his hands together and suddenly becoming distant. 

She's leaning forward and opening the pizza box, taking a piece out and leaning back onto the couch. 'Shut up, you stupid old man.'

'You do realise I'm old enough to be your father,' he's stating. 

'Say one more word and I'll shove this piece of pizza in your face,' she's threatening. 

'I highly doub-' he's quickly being cut off by a piece of pizza being shoved unceremoniously in his mouth. 

'Now shut up and eat,' she's saying while reaching for another piece of pizza. 

He's glaring over at her before grabbing the pizza hanging from his mouth and taking a bite from it. She's looking over at him and moving slightly closer to him, careful not to move the cushion too much under her. He's continuing to eat, so she's assuming he didn't notice and moving yet again, this time accidentally moving the cushion too profoundly, causing him to look at her. 

'What do you think you're doing, Clara?' He's asking, his tone a step away from threatening. 

She's not replying and taking a bite of her food, staring straight ahead. 

He's looking at her for a moment, puzzled, before going back to his pizza and trying to ignore he the warmth coming from his side. Because that warmth was his friend. Nothing more. She'd made that clear. Well, not too terribly clear, she'd just said that this wasn't a date. He's finishing off his pizza and looking at her intently, trying to figure out what exactly she was to him. He'd only known her for two days, but for some reason her touch made his heart clench and her voice made him feel like someone had lit a fire inside him. 

He's feeling a hand slip into his and his heart rate is picking up as he looks down at their linked hands, completely and utterly confused as to why she'd done that. He's feeling her move towards him and close the distance between them, lifting their hands up as her hip grazes his. She's placing their hands on her knee and still refusing to look at him, finding the wall in front of her much more interesting. He's watching as she takes a bite of her food, carefully chewing before leaning forward and placing it on a napkin. She's sitting back on the couch and finally looking at him, causing his heart to beat faster as he sees the look in her eyes. 

'I've found out what I think of you,' she's stating. 

'Is that so?' He's asking, trying to mask the genuine curiosity in his voice. 

'You're like a teenager,' she's starting, earning a confused look from him before explaining,'You're very full of life, but you seem to push away people you don't know. You're scared of getting closed to people and quite honestly-' she's gesturing at his outfit with her free hand,'-you have absolutely no clue how to dress when you have company.' 

He's shrugging before replying,'I suppose I'll take that over you thinking I'm some antisocial weirdo that works at you office like.'

'Is that what you think I thought of you before?' She's asking. 

'Just a guess,' he's replying, reaching forward and grabbing the pizza that she has placed on the coffee table a few moments ago. 

She's narrowing her eyes at him,'Did you really just steal my pizza?' 

'I believe I did,' he's stating before taking a bite from it. 

She's glaring at him and letting go of his hand, only to have him whimper slightly as she did so. 'No hand holding if you steal my pizza,' she's saying, her tone serious. 

He's frowning and handing it back to her, mumbling something under his breath as she takes it. She's choosing to ignore his mumbling, enjoying this moment too much to really care. She's slipping her hand back into his and watching a smile finds its way onto his face. 

They finish their food a little while later, their eating being accompanied by shameless flirting, courtesy of Clara Oswald. They're sitting back on the couch, their hands still linked and their hips now touching instead of grazing, causing him to feel immensely overwhelmed. He didn't know that it caused her to feel absolutely overwhelmed as well. It wasn't a bad kind of overwhelmed, they decided. It was a good kind. A kind that made you feel ecstatic and like you could accomplish almost anything. 

They're sitting there for a while, enjoying each other's company and trying to stall her leaving by small talking, something she'd found out he was absolutely horrible at. But eventually, their not-date had to come to an end. 

So he stood up and pulled her up with him, dropping his hand from here and feeling empty without her contact. He's walking her to the door and before he can open it, he's feeling a hand on his cheek and warm lips on his other cheek, causing his heart to nearly jump out of his chest. 

'Thank you for today,' she's whispering. 

He's noticing how close they are and how easy it would be to just close the distance between them right now, but he's somehow finding the strength to resist. 'Thank you for your company, Clara Oswald.'

She's breathing out a laugh as her eyes look up into his and she sees a look she'd never expected to see from him. She's quickly looking away and dropping her hand from his cheek. 

'Goodnight, Doctor,' she's saying, a slight sadness to her voice. 

'Goodnight, Clara,' he's replying, a small smirk on his lips. 

And with that, she was gone.


	3. Actual Proper Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> These two nerds go out for coffee and discuss the wonders of the Earth.

The day after their not-date, he'd ignored her completely. He'd gone to work early and locked himself in his office, ignoring the knocking on his door around lunch time. His plan was to simply get his work done and then leave. No talking to Clara Oswald and no having to deal with the way she made him feel. At least, that was the plan. He didn't quite plan on her being stubborn and slipping a note under his door in the middle of his lunch break. He'd tried to ignore it. He really had. But apparently part of his mind had other ideas and continuously bothered him about it until he got up and read the note. 

So he's standing up, disciplining himself for giving in as he walks to him door and picks up the note. 

_Come to the break room, I need to talk to you._  
-Clara 

He's sighing and striding back to his desk, crumpling up the note and throwing it into the garbage bin, continuing his work as he had been before. His leg is bouncing anxiously under his seat as he works, guilt flooding his mind as his thoughts wander back to the note. He's hearing a knock at his door and quickly glancing at the time, seeing that his lunch break is long back over. He's looking at the door sadly, considering opening it before realising how stupid of an idea that was and getting back to work. 

He's hearing another knock on the door and groaning inwardly, knowing that she isn't going to stop until he opens it. 

'Doctor!' She's shouting, her words severely muffled by his door,'I swear, if you don't open this door right now then I will kick it down!'

His eyes are widening slightly as he jumps out of his chair, quickly making his way to the door. He's pulling it open and being confronted by her in all her five foot two glory, absolutely fuming. 

'Would you like to explain to me why you weren't in the break room at your lunch break?' she's asking, obviously beyond angry. 

'Work,' he's replying, trying to mask the nervousness in his voice. 

She's narrowing her eyes at him before asking in a hushed voice,'Did our date yesterday mean nothing to you?' 

'That wasn't a date, Clara,' he's replying gruffly before spinning on his heal and striding back to his desk. 

She's stepping into his office and closing the door harshly behind her before questioning loudly,'Honestly, how could you be so daft?' 

He's glaring at her before pointing at his door. 'Out,' he's stating. 

She's staring at him for a moment, trying to see if he was serious. Of course, she knew he was, so she's turning around and opening the door, looking over her shoulder and stating calmly,'Don't think you're getting out of skipping lunch this easily.' 

Then she's walking out and closing the door behind her, leaving him to sulk in his office. He knew he should've gone to the break room. One part of him had been screaming out for him to go, but for some reason he hadn't. He's burying his face in his hands as he's remembering the way his heart had started racing as he saw he on the other side of the door. Not out of fear, but out of something he was not quite able to identify. It felt almost like profound care mixed with affection. 

He's lifting his head from his hands and letting out a deep breath, quickly busying himself with work. The faster he got his work done, the faster he got away from the temptation that was Clara Oswald. 

-

He's closing his door and locking it up for the night, letting out a sigh as he slips his keys into his coat pockets. 

'You're leaving already?' he's hearing her question from behind him. 

He's pressing his lips together and turning around, replying,'I've finished all the work I needed done for today.'

She's frowning at him before saying sceptically,'You're trying to get away from me aren't you?'

It was more of a statement than a question, seeing as though they both knew it was the truth. 'I have ten minutes of work left, can you please stay here with me until I get done? I know you're trying to get away from me, but I really need to talk to you,' she's saying, her voice wavering between hope and confidence. 

He's looking at her, trying to find the strength to say not, but he honestly can't say no to her. So he's walking into her office and leaning on her desk, letting her get her work done and watching her intently as she does, seeing her shoot him quick glances every so often just to make sure he's still there. Fifteen minutes of glancing and staring later, and she was done with her work. She's looking up at him and smiling, a slight blush creeping onto her cheeks as she sees the way he's looking at her. 

'Sorry for skipping lunch today,' he's saying, breaking the silence that's been surrounding them for the past fifteen minutes. 

She's standing up and linking her hands behind her back, taking a small step towards him. 'Make it up to me,' she's saying, a hint of playfulness to her voice. 

He's looking at her, his gaze suddenly finding its way to her lips. He's quickly moving his gaze back to her eyes as he realises where he was looking. 'A date,' he's saying, not entirely realising what he's saying until a few moments after he's already said it. 

Her smile is widening as she's replying,'I believe that's a good start.'

She's standing up on her tip toes and placing a gentle kiss on the corner of his lips, lingering there for a moment as she glances at his lips, resisting the urge to move her lips the extra distance and press them against his. She's taking her lips off the corner of his and slowly lowering herself, getting back onto her feet fully. She's looking up into his eyes and seeing a spark there, causing her heart to skip a beat. 

'Would you like to go on our date now?' He's asking, his voice low and deep. 

'I would love nothing more,' she's replying, her tone low just as his was. 

And with that, she's slipping her hand into his and he's giving her a weak smile, squeezing her hand lightly. She's looking at her desk and sighing, going to reach for some paper work, only to have him block her hand with his free hand. She's looking at him slightly confused before he's explaining that the place he wants to take her is fairly close and they can come back to the office to get paperwork afterward. She's sighing in defeat as she lets him drag her out of the office and over to a small cafe around the corner, pulling her through the doors. She's looking over at a corner table and pointing at it, asking if they could sit there and getting a grin in return from him. So they're sitting there, her gazing out the window and him gazing at her. 

Their hands are resting on top of the table, still linked, and their prolonged contact is something that's stopped making him feel as though he's going to die from some unexplained feeling and more like he's safe. She made him feel safe and he hadn't the slightest idea as to why. He's feeling her hand squeeze his reassuringly, what she's reassuring him of, he has no idea, but it feels nice, none the less. 

'I've always wanted to travel,' she's saying, her gaze still fixed on outside.

He's smirking at her out of place comment and questioning,'What made you think of that?' 

She's gesturing outside with her hand and replying,'All of that outside. It's all become so boring and normal and it's almost as if everything just blends in together. I've been in London so long that the scenery doesn't seem to interest me anymore and nothing seems to stand out as it used to. I want to travel, see new things, new scenery, be amazed by things that the people that live there just brush off as something they see everyday. Then I want to be able to come back here to London, and be amazed all over again by the things that are just background scenery to me now.'

He's staring at her in wonder and his smirk is turning into a grin. 'I used to travel,' he's stating,'I used to think that traveling to new places would always be new and amazing, and for a while it was, but after traveling for a long period of time, I stopes seeing the wonder in things. Everything seems to be the same, even the most extraordinary new things.' 

'I think maybe you just needed someone to travel with,' she's teasing, her hand tightening around his ever so slightly. 

'Why would I need that?' He's questioning, his voice confused, yet curious. 

'Well, if you were getting bored with what you were seeing, then you'd have someone else with you and you could see the beauty of where you were through their eyes.' She's explaining, finally tearing her gaze away from the window and looking at him, seeing his eyes lighting up. 

'You, Clara Oswald, are very intelligent,' he's commenting, holding her gaze for a moment before looking down at their hands and pressing his lips together, wondering what on earth he was doing holding her hand. 

She's following his gaze and seeing it leading to their hands, causing her heart to race in her chest as she whispers,'Tell me what your thinking.'

'I'd rather not,' he's admitting, pulling his hand from hers and placing it in his lap with his other hand, nervously intertwining his fingers and pushing them hard into the hand they laid on. 

She's pouting. 'Please? It can't be that bad.'

He's sighing. This never being able to say no thing to her was getting very annoying very quickly. 'I'm not used to this whole touching thing. I'm usually not very physical with people, so this is very new and extremely nerve racking,' he's replying honestly, his fingers pressing harder into his hands. 

She's looking at him apologetically before apologising, offering to buy drinks to make it up to him. He's grudgingly accepting, feeling guiltily for making her pay for their drinks. He's watching her as she walks up to the front counter of the cafe, ordering and drumming her fingers against the counter as she waits, a slight smile tugging at her lips as she sings something under her breath. She's receiving their drinks and kindly thanking the woman who handed the to her, making her way back to their table, a bounce in her step. 

She's placing his coffee in front of him, only to see him frown as he sniffs it. She's sitting down in front of him, a small frown almost mirroring his appearing on her lips. 

'What's wrong?' She's asking, a small hint of worry evident in her features. 

'Nothing,' he's replying, taking the lid off his cup and grabbing the sugar off the table, promptly pouring a nauseating amount of sugar into his coffee. 

She's scrunching her nose up and watching as he puts the lid back on his coffee and takes a sip, acting as if nothing is amiss. 'Is that seriously how you drink your coffee?' She's asking, amusement in her voice and a small smile on he lips. 

He's placing his coffee down on the table and sliding it over to her, telling her to try it. She's picking it up and cautiously sniffing it, immediately regretting doing so. She's carefully putting her lips on the cup, taking a small sip and having potentially the sweetest thing she's ever tasted invade her mouth. She's quickly swallowing it down, the taste becoming bittersweet as she puts his coffee done on the table and desperately reaches for her coffee, taking a sip and holding it in her mouth, groaning slightly as it washes the taste of his coffee out of her mouth. 

He's laughing and questioning,'That bad, huh?'

She's swallowing the coffee in her mouth, frowning slightly as a bitter taste follows it. 'Don't think I have quite as much of a sweet tooth as you,' she's replying, a smile playing at her lips. 

'Most people don't,' he's saying, humour in his voice.

She's smiling fully now, going to reach her hand out for his under the table, only to remember what he said earlier. She's sighing, earning a confused look from him. He's asking her what's wrong and she's shrugging, telling him it's nothing, because how exactly is she to tell him that she wants to hold his hand? It sounded so simple, but with him, nothing was simple. He's huffing out a breath and reaching his hand out to hold hers, intertwining his fingers with hers under the table. 

'You're a terrible liar,' he's stating, earning a laugh from her. 

The rest of their date is spent smiling like idiots, talking about all the places they've been and all the places they want to go. Their hands shift as they talk, their fingers weaving their way out of each other's hands, leaving their hands simply linked. 

They're leaving long after their coffee is finished, the only time they aren't holding hands being the time he gets up to throw away their cups. Their hands are linked as they walk out the cafe, standing out front as they exchange goodbyes, her kissing his cheek and him attempting to find the courage to do something other than just standing there. An effort that fails horrendously. 

She's making him promise to come to lunch the next day, and he's very stubbornly promising her so. And with that, their hands are leaving each other's and she's telling him to stay here, saying that she needs to go get her paperwork from the office. She's running off, and of course, he's not listening to her and chasing after her. 

He honestly couldn't bare to spend a second away from her side, which he assumed would probably become quite the problem in his future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed reading! Kudos if you enjoyed and comments are much appreciated.


	4. Promises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor acts strange one day at lunch and Clara goes to his house later that day to investigate.

He'd kept his promise of to her and ate lunch with her the next day. He's honestly enjoyed it more than he'd ever let on, letting his defences down for a little while and smiling and laughing with her. She'd asked him to come to lunch everyday and of course he'd said yes, inwardly cursing himself for never being able to deny Clara Oswald of anything. So he's going to the break room at his lunch break to eat with her for the next two weeks, enjoying almost every second of it. The only time he hadn't enjoyed had been the time she'd tried to kiss him and he'd stupidly turned his head so she'd ended up kissing his cheek, and he was left to spend the rest of the lunch in despair because he had just denied himself of something he'd wanted for a while now. 

On his twelfth day of eating lunch with her, he's finally gathering the courage to pull her into his office during lunch and there eating in there, her sitting on his desk and him sitting in his desk chair. She's trying to get him to eat, but he's kindly declining her offerings of food and telling her he's not hungry. In all honesty, he'd been starving, but he was too anxious to eat. Having her in his office, alone, with nothing to interrupt them made him unbearably anxious. She's asking him to eat again and he's finally deciding to stop her from asking again, jumping up from his chair and striding over to her, placing a finger against her lips. 

'Shush,' he's saying, his voice deep. 

She's furrowing her brow and looking down at his finger, slowly moving her hand up and wrapping her fingers around his wrist gently, pulling his finger off her lips. 'What's brought this on?' She's asking. 

'You,' he's breathing out. 

She's raising an eye brow at him and dropping his wrist, asking curiously,'Me?'

He's looking at her, a fire in his eyes as he plants his hands on the desk on either side of her, only to pull away seconds after and take bounding steps towards the other side of his office, burying his hands in his hair. 

'You should leave,' he's saying, his voice aggravated. 

She's hoping off his desk and taking small steps towards him, placing one foot directly in front of the other. Once she's reaching him, she's looking up at him, seeing him frozen with something that looked almost like fear. She's looking at either side of his face, her head tilting slightly as she goes to plant a hand on his cheek. He's stiffening under her touch and looking down at her, his eyes pleading for her to leave. 

'Why do you want me to leave, Doctor?' She's asking, her voice slightly sweet. 

'Because if you don't I'm going to do something I'll regret,' he's whispering, his gaze suddenly finding its way to her lips. 

She can feel his breath heavy on her face and she's deciding it's probably best to leave and let him calm down. She's sighing and dropping her hand from his face, turning around and taking exaggerated steps back towards his desk. She's looking over at his lunch and feeling a pang of guilt run through her. 

'Please make sure you eat something,' she's saying, nodding towards his lunch. 

He's letting out a quite grunt and she's taking that as an affirmation that he'll eat something, so she's gathering her things and leaving his office with a muttered goodbye. 

He's sighing and shuffling towards his desk, looking down at his lunch and deciding that it was probably easier to just lie about it to her later than actually eat something. He's sitting down and running a hand through his hair, resolving to get his work done as quickly as possible and spend the rest of his day alone in the comfort of his home. 

As soon as his work is done, he's jumping out of his seat and throwing his laptop bag over his shoulder, bolting over to his door and throwing open, slamming it behind him as he begins striding towards the exit of the office building. He's trying to avoid looking at her as he passes by her cubicle, failing horribly as sees her staring at him out of the corner of his eye. He's sighing in defeat and looking at her, seeing a slight frown on her lips. 

'Where're you going?' She's asking, her voice disappointed. 

'Home,' he's replying, trying not to let any emotion show in his voice. 

She's raising her eyebrow at him and asking,'Were you going to just leave without telling me?'

'That was the plan, yes,' he's replying, tearing his gaze away from her and looking in the direction of the exit. 

'I'm assuming there's a reason as to why you've been avoiding me all day,' she's saying, more of a statement than a question. 

He's choosing to ignore her question and instead walk away, pushing open the exit and walking out of the building, releasing a rough breath once he gets outside. Clara Oswald was most certainly going to be the death of him, he'd decided. And with that thought planted firmly in his head, he's walking to his flat, looking forward to doing nothing but sulking once he got there. As soon as he's opening his door, he's throwing his computer bag onto the floor and taking two big steps towards his couch, collapsing onto it and groaning into a throw pillow. 

His sulking is being rudely interrupted ten minutes in by a knock at his door. He's sitting up and glaring at the door, trying to remember if he had been expecting someone or not. He's then deciding that that doesn't matter because he doesn't want to deal with anyone right now, so he's bounding over to his door and opening it, raising an eyebrow when he sees who it is. Clara. Of course Clara. Who else would actually come and visit him?

She's stepping past him and striding towards his couch, plopping herself down on it and linking her hands in her lap. He's holding back a groan and shutting the door, trudging over to the couch and sitting down next to her. She's looking over at him, trying to identify what he was feeling only to be met with an emotionless face. 

'Why're you here?' He's asking deeply, trying to hide his annoyance. 

'Something's wrong with you and I need to know what it is,' she's replying, her hands fidgeting almost nervously against one another. 

'Nothing's wrong with me, Clara,' he's stating, his voice devoid of emotion. 

'Then explain what exactly happened at lunch today,' she's saying, a challenge in her voice. 

He's looking at her now, debating whether he should tell her the truth or not. He's deciding that lying wouldn't hurt. 'I didn't want to have to deal with other people today,' he's saying gruffly, looking down at the floor. 

'I'm not other people,' she's stating, seeing right through his lie. 

He's sighing for the millionth time that day and telling her the truth,'I wanted to kiss you and I didn't think you would want me to so I had you leave so I wouldn't be tempted to.'

Her eyes are widening slightly at she's looking at him as though he's the daftest person she's ever met. 'You're an idiot,' she's stating, causing him to look up at her, his brow furrowed. 

He's opening his mouth slightly to say something, only to slowly shut it and furrow his brow deeper in confusion. She's putting her forehead on his shoulder and telling him he's hopeless, a small smile on her lips. He feels as though he his heart might give out having her this close to him. He's gathering what courage he could find and placing two fingers on her chin, lifting her head up so she's looking at him. He's feeling her breath on his lips and suddenly his courage is dissolving, leaving him in front of her, frozen. She's noticing him tense up and helping take the next step, swooping forward and placing her lips on his, kissing him gently. He's taking a moment to respond, but once he does, he's matching her gentleness, moving his hand from her chin to her cheek. She's placing her hand on his chest and laughing gently into his mouth, causing him to stop kissing her and smile slightly against her lips, asking her what was so funny. 

She's telling him it's nothing, the feel of her words vibrating against his lips sending a shiver down his spine. She's taking her lips off his and looking him in the eyes, seeing him gaze at her affectionately. She's leaning forward and placing a quick kiss on his lips, pulling away to see him now smiling at her. She's smiling back at him and sliding the hand on his chest around him and onto his back, placing her other hand next to it. He's telling her he doesn't like hugging and she's smirking at him, pulling him down on top of her making it so they're both laying on the couch. 

He's flailing his arms around, trying to find a secure place to lay his hands finding the arm of the couch to be the most secure place. He's planting his hands there and pushing himself up, looking down at her grinning like and idiot. She's dropping her arms from him and gazing up with him with more adoration than he's ever thought possible to see in a person's eyes. He's leaning down towards her and placing a gentle kiss on the tip of her nose, suddenly noticing the intimacy of their position as her hips shift under him. He's clearing his throat and trying to ignore the feeling that just shot through his abdomen, telling her to roll onto her side. She's giving him a weird look and turning on her side, feeling him drop on his side in the empty gap behind her. 

She's looking back at him and smiling slightly, flipping over so that she's facing him. He's smiling back at her, thankful that they were in a slightly less compromising position. She's pressing her lips to his and resting her hands on his chest, feeling an arm wrap around her and pull her closer as his lips respond to hers. She's deepening the kiss and trying to roll him over so he's on top of her again, only to have him pull away from the kiss and look at her with a slightly fearful look. 

'Sorry, did I do something wrong?' She's questioning. 

'No, no. Just, don't want things to move along too quickly,' he's mumbling. 

She's nodding and pecking his lips, flipping back over shifting closer to him, his arm tightening around her. 

'Thanks,' he's whispering, his voice apologetic. 

She's reaching over for the TV remote and pressing the on button, placing the remote back on the table and wrapping her arms around the one on her torso. They're watching TV late into the night, her fighting back sleep as her eyes begin to drift shut. She's telling herself to go home, but part of her isn't letting her. Eventually her eyes are drifting shut for the final time and she's falling asleep in his arms, her head falling back onto his chest. He's looking down at her and laughing gently, lightly patting her stomach with the hand that was already there in attempt to wake her up. 

Her eyes are fluttering open and she's looking up at his smiling face, yawning and turning around, burying her face in his chest and gently grabbing the fabric of his shirt. 

'Can I stay here tonight?' She's asking sleepily, her voice muffled by his chest. 

'Do you really think I'd let you go home in this state?' He's asking, amused. 

She's laughing into his chest and mumbling something he doesn't understand, falling asleep again promptly after that. He's sighing and sitting up, poking her until she wakes up again. She's groaning and squeezing her eyes shut tighter, telling him to go away. He's scooping her up and standing up, beginning to walk towards his room. She's telling him to put her down and he's obliging, placing her carefully on the ground only to watch her stager forward slightly, her eyes barely opened. He's grabbing her shoulders and holding her upright, helping her walk to his room. Once they get to his bed, he's sitting her down and she's making no effort to do anything other than just sit there, watching him as he bolts around the room grabbing various items of clothing. He's bounding over to her and handing her the clothes, a confused expression finding its way onto her face. 

'What're these for?' She's asking, trying to mask the sleep in her voice. 

'Clothes to sleep in,' he's replying, looking down at her outfit that looks like it would be very uncomfortable to sleep in. 

She's taking the clothes from him and thanking him, waiting for him to leave the room before seeing what he gave her. She's laughing slightly as she sees that he's given her the pyjama pants she'd seen him in on their not-date and then picking up the jumper he gave to her, seeing that it was full of holes. She's shrugging and undressing, putting on the clothes he'd given her. She's calling him back into the room, hearing a crash before seeing him bound into the room, informing her that he had not broken anything. And then he's grinning at her, seeing her in the clothes he had given her that were definitely too big. 

'How do I look?' She's questioning, her tone teasing. 

'Small,' he's replying before gesturing towards the bed,'Now get some rest. I'll be on the couch if you need me.' 

She's frowning at him and patting the spot next to her. 'Sleep here,' she's saying, almost pleading. 

He's sighing and walking over to her, sitting down on the bed next to her. She's smiling at him sleepily before falling down onto the bed, looking over at him, waiting for him to do the same. He's getting up onto the bed, crawling around her and laying next to her. 

'You are aware that you can't sleep with your legs dangling off the bed like that?' He's questioning. 

'Watch me,' she's saying, her voice almost determined. 

He's getting her to lay down the right way eventually, after much persuading and a few kisses. She's burying herself under his blankets and going to wrap her arms around him, only to still feel coat and dress shirt on. 

'That can't be comfortable,' she's mumbling, her voice on the edge of sleep. 

He's looking at her confused before realising he was still fully dressed. He strips off his coat and dress shirt, throwing them to the foot of the bed, leaving him in an undershirt and some dress pants. He's assuming he's taken off enough and he's getting under the blankets with her, letting her wrap her arms around him and bury her face in the side of his torso. She's falling asleep quickly and he's watching her sleep for a while, not exactly tired at the moment. Sleep is overtaking him a little while after that and he's falling asleep contently knowing that she will be at his side when he wakes up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Leave a kudos if you would like and comments are much appreciated.


	5. Day In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tickle fights and falling in love.

He's waking up in the morning to find their limbs tangled together. Their legs are intertwined and his arms are around her, her hands resting on his chest. He's glancing over at his clock and seeing that they still have a little while until work, so he's simply just laying there, enjoying having her so close to him. She's stirring awake at his side and slowly opening her eyes to look up and find him looking intently at her, causing her to blush lightly. She's smiling at him and telling him good morning, her voice heavy with sleep. He's laughing lightly and telling her good morning back, his voice more content than she'd ever heard it. She's shifting up and placing a kiss on his lips, giggling slightly and collapsing back down onto the bed. 

'We've work soon,' he's whispering gently into her ear, the feeling of his lips almost touching her ear causing her heart to clench. 

'I'm taking the day off,' she's mumbling, her head nuzzling into the pillow under it. 

He's breathing out a laugh and tightening his arms around her, nuzzling into her hair. 'You sure that's a good decision?' He's questioning, his voice muffled by her hair. 

She's humming happily into the pillow her face is buried in and one hand is grabbing gently at his shirt, tugging lightly at it. He's taking his face out of her hair and questioning,'What?' 

She's looking up at him, a faint smile on her lips. 'Would it be okay if I stayed here today?'

'I have work today, Clara,' he's stating, trying to mask the humour in his voice with a serious tone. 

She's pouting at him and asking sadly,'Can't you just take the day off?'

He's looking at her for a moment before sighing in defeat and agreeing to take the day off. She's letting out a happy squeal and wrapping her arms around him, placing a kiss above the collar of his shirt. He's burying his face into her hair again and cursing himself for letting her persuade him into taking the day off. She's asking him what he wants to do that day and he's telling her that he just wants to lay in bed with her, eliciting a laugh from her. She's telling him they need to eat at some time that day and he's grumbling into her hair, saying they can skip eating for one day. 

She's then reminding him that the whole reason that they met is because she didn't want him skipping a meal a day, so he's grudgingly accepting the fact that they have to get up at some point to eat. Her stomach is suddenly growling and she's giggling, informing him that she wanted to eat breakfast. He's unwrapping his arms from her and letting her up, watching as she walks to the doorway and disappear from his view as she goes to the kitchen. She's coming back in a few minutes later with a plate of toast and some eggs, walking over to the bed and sitting down next to him, placing the plate in front of him. She's stealing a piece of toast and nibbling at it, having him playfully glare at her and thank her for breakfast, beginning to slowly eat. 

She's watching him eat for a moment before stating,'I've planned what we're going to do today.'

He's taking a moment to chew the food in his mouth before swallowing and asking,'And what would that be?' 

'It's a surprise,' she's replying,'Just make sure you're dressed around lunch time.'

He's breathing out a laugh and looking down at his food. 'Yes, boss.'

She's smirking at him and asking,'I'm the boss now, am I?'

He's finishing off his last piece of toast before mumbling in reply,'I suppose so.'

Her smirk is turning into a grin as she sees that he has a tad bit of jam on the corner of his lips. She's leaning forward and gently swiping her thumb across the corner of his lips, his breath hitching as she touches him. His hand is darting up and grabbing her wrist as she goes to pull away and their eyes are meeting each other. They're looking at each other for a moment before he's ever so slowly leaning forward and placing a kiss on the tip of her nose. His lips are hovering above her nose as he pulls away and it's taking everything in her to not just tilt her head up and plant her lips on his. She's noticing him move ever so slightly and then feeling a kiss on the bridge of her nose. She's closing her eyes and trying not to focus too much on their close proximity, only to feel him kiss both her eyelids and then one of her temples, his kisses trailing down her cheek and onto her jawline. 

He's hesitating for a moment as he gets to her chin, his lips lingering there for a moment before he finally finds the courage to plant his lips on her neck. He's hearing her breath pick up as he kisses a certain part of her neck, his lips lingering there as he plants his free hand on the side of her stomach, eliciting a giggle from her. He's looking up at her, a mischievous smirk planted firmly on his lips. 

'Are you ticklish, Clara Oswald?' He's asking, his voice low.

She's biting her lip slightly and looking down at him, unable to properly form an answer to his question when she sees his wide eyes staring back at her. He's raising an eyebrow at her and testing his theory, quickly running his fingers up her side, causing her to squirm. He's smiling and letting go of her wrist with his other hand, placing it on the other side of her stomach. 

'Don't you dare,' she's warning, her breathes still coming out uneven. 

'Try and stop me,' he's saying, his tone deep. 

And with that he's tickling her relentlessly, causing her to giggle uncontrollably. She's falling back on the bed and he's somehow ending up on top of her, his fingering exploring her body and trying to find her most ticklish spot. She's swatting at him and breathlessly telling him to stop, only to have him complete ignore her pleas. His movements are slowing down as he looks at her face, noticing the way it's scrunched up from her laughing and her eyes are squeezed shut. He's looking at her mouth and seeing a toothy grin there, causing him to feel suddenly warm on the inside. His movements are coming to a halt as he watches her lips come together and form a content smile, her eyelids fluttering open as she looks up at him with a thankful look. 

He doesn't get the chance to look at her eyes, because as soon as they're opened, he's planting his lips on hers. She's kissing him back for moment before pushing him away, emitting a whimper from him. 

'You really think I'd let you kiss me after what you just did?' She's questioning. 

He's frowning and rolling over onto the bed next to her, looking over at her and giving her a sad look. She's looking over at him and smirking slightly, tapping his foot with hers. 

'You are aware of the fact that I'm not actually mad at you?' She's questioning, her eyebrow raising slightly. 

'Yeah,' he's muttering, looking away from her. 

'Good,' she's saying, reaching out for his hand and intertwining her fingers with his. 

They're sitting in silence for a while, her looking at him and him looking at the ceiling, their hands staying linked between them. He seems completely and utterly lost in his own world and she's pretty sure that he wouldn't even respond to her if she tried to get an attention. So she's giving him some time to be lost in his head, knowing that he probably needs it after spending so much time with her in the past two days. After a while, she's getting lost in a world of her own, only to be interrupted a few minutes later by the sound of his voice. 

'Clara,' he's saying, his accent causing him to roll the r in her name. 

'Doctor,' she's replying, her voice slightly distant. 

'What am I to you?' He's asking, his question taking her by surprise. 

She's looking him up and down and then training her eyes back on his face, replying honestly,'I have no clue.'

He's finally turning his head and looking over at her, squeezing her hand lightly,'What do you want me to be then?' 

'My boyfriend?' She's questioning, not quite sure if he would like that answer. 

And of course she was right. 'I'm not your boyfriend, Clara,' he's replying,'I can never be your boyfriend.'

'Why not?' She's asking, her voice almost disappointed. 

'Because being your boyfriend means I'm simply only in a relationship with you. I feel as though being your boyfriend isn't enough. I feel like it's too daft a thing and I don't want to take any part in being that simple a thing. I want to be something more,' he's replying. 

'If you're not my boyfriend, than that means I can't be your girlfriend,' she's pointing out. 

'Good,' he's replying, his voice firm. 

She'd giving him a slightly worried look before stating,'You're strange.'

He's smiling and leaning forward, placing a kiss on her lips before whispering,'Wouldn't want to be any other way.'

She's smiling and placing her forehead on his, taking a deep breath in before whispering,'I think I'm falling in love with you, John.'

He's feeling his heart begin to race and letting go of her hand, causing a look of concern to cross her face. Her eyes are going wide as he takes his forehead off hers and looks back up at the ceiling, a look of contemplation on his face. 

'I'm sorry, should I not have said that?' She's asking, her voice filled with a suppressed worry. 

'No, no. It's fine,' he's saying, running a hand over his face. 

He was falling in love with her too. He couldn't admit it to himself entirely, but he knew he was. That's why he had all those strange feelings around her. The feelings that were completely new to him and made him feel like a different person. He's quickly hopping off the bed and glancing back at her, seeing her expression now somehow even more concerned than last time. He's cursing himself for not being able to say the same back to her, but if he couldn't even admit it to himself, how was he to admit it to her?

'I'm sorry,' he's uttering, struggling to find the strength to move his feet and walk to the door. 

'Do you want me to leave?' She's questioning. 

He's shaking his head no and responding,'Just give me a minute.'

She's nodding, immediately feeling stupid knowing that he couldn't see her. He's sitting down on the edge of the bed and linking his hands in his lap, not saying anything. She's getting up on her knees and making her way over to him, asking if it's alright if she touches him. He's just nodding slightly and she's resting her head on his shoulder, apologising again for what she'd said. Her arms had eventually found their way around his torso and he'd leaned back into her, enjoying her closeness. 

By the time lunch time rolled around, neither of them wanted to get up. So they'd laid down and she held him, letting him know that he didn't have to return her feelings. He'd told her not to be ridiculous and she'd laughed a little at that, holding him closer. He loved her laugh. The sound of it was wonderful to him and he thought that her laugh could make the worst of days better. He's sighing and shifting closer to her, cursing her for making him feel the way he did. 

She's dozing off after a while of holding him, emotionally exhausted from their previous conversation. Her flipping himself over in her arms and watching her as she sleeps, trying to memorise every little line of her face just so he'd have the memory of it for after she left. He's watching as her hair gently drapes down in front of her face, obscuring his view of her face. He's hesitantly bringing his hand up to her face and sweeping her hair behind her ear, his fingers lingering in her hair for a moment. He's then deciding that she's probably in a deep enough sleep that cupping her cheek wouldn't wake her, so he's doing so, his thumb gently stroking her cheek. 

He's seeing the corner of her lips twitch upward and quickly withdrawing his hand from her cheek. Her eyes are fluttering open and she's frowning slightly at him, a few strands of hair falling from the piece of hair he'd tucked behind her ear.

'When'd you wake up?' He's whispering. 

'While ago,' she's murmuring. 

He's sighing and burying his head into her shoulder, deciding that he was most certainly falling for Clara Oswald.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! I had a bit of writer's block during this chapter, so it took slightly longer to write. If you have anything you want to happen, feel free to leave a comment telling me that idea. Kudos if you enjoyed and comments are always appreciated.


	6. I Love You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drama and a premature 'I love you.'

Her plans for lunch on their day off had quickly been cancelled after they both decided they were better off not going anywhere in the state they were in. They'd spent the rest of the day at his house and he'd made them lunch. She'd laughed when she saw eat a whole pack of jammy dodgers for lunch, claiming that old habits die hard once he finished and confusing her immensely. She'd gone home right before dinner, informing him that as much as she would enjoy his company for dinner, she really needed some time alone. He'd agreed with her and told her he actually preferred eating alone, which was a fact that she kept for later, knowing it would come in handy eventually. She'd given him a kiss on the cheek before she left, not even having the slightest clue about the storm that was about to hit her at work tomorrow. 

She'd gone to work the next day half an hour early, knowing that he would be there. She's going to knock on his door, only to decide that he would have to be the one to actually come out and greet her. She's strolling into her cubicle and sitting down at her desk, sorting through some paper work on her desk and beginning to hum. She's hearing the door behind her open and she's smiling, quickly looking behind her and seeing him about to enter his office. 

'Doctor,' she's calling out, spinning in her chair to face him and gaining his attention. 

He's looking at her for a second, contemplating whether or not to say something back. He's deciding against it and looking away from her, entering his office and slamming his door shut behind him. She's frowning at his closed door and a sigh is escaping her lips. It was going to be another one of those days again. 

She's hastily busy herself with work, trying not to think much of him being distant. Sometimes people just needed space, she understood that. But she couldn't help but feel like him being distant had to do with what she'd said yesterday. As the day progressed, she began to believe more and more that what she said yesterday had been the cause of his being distant today. She'd gotten almost no work done by the time lunch rolled around, having been distracted too much by her thoughts of him. 

She's huffing out a breath as she stands up and trudges to the break room, painfully aware of the fact that he won't be there waiting for her. She's staring at the fridge, deciding whether or not she should eat. She's deciding against it and sighing deeply, resting her head on the fridge in front of her. 

'Can't believe I scared him off,' she's muttering, her eyes closing. 

She's hearing footsteps behind her, choosing to simply ignore them and continue her moping, that is until she feels a hand on her shoulder. Her eyes are snapping open and she's turning her head quickly to look at who was behind her, her expression softening when she sees its him. She's turning back towards the fridge and leaning her head back onto it, deciding that if he really wanted to talk to her, he'd be the one to begin the conversation. 

It's taking him a moment to realise he had to be the one to say something, and once he finally does realise this, he has absolutely no clue what to say. So he's saying the only one word that comes to mind. 'Sorry.'

'You should be,' she's mumbling, just loud enough for him to hear her. 

His hand is slipping off her shoulder and he's questioning,'Do you want me to leave?'

'No,' she's replying quickly, her voice desperate,'Please don't leave.'

She's turning around and looking at him, her eyes sad. Without warning, she's taking a step towards him and wrapping her arms around him, burying her face in his chest. He's awkwardly wrapping an arm around her, mumbling something under his breath. 

She's looking up at him, a questioning look on her face. 'What was that?'

'Nothing,' he's replying, the tone of his voice telling her to just leave well enough alone. 

She's looking at him for a moment, contemplating whether or not she should look further into what he said, deciding that she would just ignore it for now and potentially bother him about it later. She's dropping her arms from him and hearing a noise of relief come from him as he pulls his arm away from her. She's cupping his cheek and searching his eyes, trying to find the slightest hint of what he was feeling. 

'Tell me what you're thinking,' she's whispering, her fingers somehow weaving their way through his hair. 

He's pressing his lips together, staring at her before inquiring,'Why are you falling in love with me?'

Her eyes are widening slightly, his question coming as a shock. 'Well,' she's replying, pausing for a moment and trying to come up with an answer, only to find that there was no clear answer. 'I don't know. Love is complicated and there really is no explanation as to why people fall in love with others.'

He's furrowing his brow,'I like your nose and the way I can see your emotions through your eyes. I also like how you're brave and you give me my space when I need it, even if you really want to talk to see me during one of my distant moments. And-'

She's putting a finger up to his lips and teasing,'Are you seriously admitting that you're falling in love with me?' 

'Don't be ridiculous, Clara,' he's snapping, his voice not quite angry, but extremely serious. 

She's raising both her eyebrows and questioning,'You sure?' 

He's swooping down and placing a kiss on the corner of her lips, whispering,'Absolutely positive.'

He's pulling away from her and her hand is dropping from his cheek, a slight pout on her lips. He's frowning at hers and a confused look is spreading across his face. 

'Your eyes are doing that thing again,' he's stating. 

'What thing?' She's questioning, sounding offended. 

'It's like they inflate,' he's replying, the look in his eyes suddenly becoming soft. 

'My eyes do not inflate!' She's exclaiming, obviously offended. 

'They do! If you could see your eyes right now you would wholeheartedly agree with me!' He's saying, his voice amused. 

She's staring at him for a moment before huffing and marching out of the break room, him taking a second to fully realise what just happened and chase after her. He's calling her name out after her, following her until he gets to her cubicle. She's telling him that she's mad at him and he best not bother her, lest he wants her to ignore him for longer. He's leaving the office without a word to her, leaving her to feel rather empty. She knew this is what she'd asked for, but for some reason, it still hurt. She's packing up a few minutes after he leaves, deciding that there's really no point to finishing her work for the day. As she goes to stand up, she's hearing a thud from behind her. She's quickly spinning around in her chair to see a gangly figure kneeling on the ground, gathering paperwork that was scattered about. 

She's hopping up from her chair and walking over to him, a bounce to her step. 'Would like like some help?' She's asking, her voice sweet. 

His head is snapping up towards her and his green eyes are wide. He's running a hand through his mop of hair and looking back down, replying,'Some help would be lovely.'

She's laughing lightly and bending down, beginning to pick up papers. She's passing him the occasional glance, trying to observe his features better, trying to figure out how she'd never seen him before. He was quite the distinct figure, with his prominent chin and his lack of eyebrows. She's handing him the last of the paperwork and shooting him a smile, getting one in return from him. He's taking the paperwork from her and thanking her, his gaze lingering on her a tad bit longer than it should. It's not as if she really minds, seeing as though she's doing the same to him. She's still gazing at him as the office door open and John strides in, moving quickly to his office only to stop when he sees two people on the ground blocking the way. 

He's looking down at them, expecting to yell at them and tell them to get out of the way, only to see one of the two being Clara. His anger is quickly dissipating, being replaced by jealousy as she sees the way she's looking at the man in front of him. He's clearing his throat and somehow gaining her attention, her cheeks turning pink as she looks up at him. 

'Doctor,' she's saying, trying to come off as happy, though her voice is much too guilty for that. 

'Would you and your boyfriend mind moving?' He's questioning, his voice gruff. 

She's looking at him sceptically and standing up, replying,'He's not my boyfriend.'

'The way you were looking at each other would say otherwise,' he's saying, pushing past her and walking into his office, slamming the door behind him. 

She's left outside his office with the gangly man now standing in front of her, a worried expression on his face. 'What was all that about?' He's asking, his voice curious but caring. 

'I've no clue,' she lying, glancing over at John's door. 

He's quickly losing interest in the subject and holding his hand out to her,'I'm Basil, by the way. Didn't get the chance to introduce myself earlier.'

She's smiling slightly and shaking his hand. 'Clara,' she's saying, trying to sound cheerful. 

'Nice name,' he's complimenting, dropping his hand to his side,'You should definitely keep it.'

She's snorting out a laugh, confused as to why she may change her own name. 'Wasn't planning on changing it anytime soon.'

He's grinning,'Good.' He's holding his arm up and looking at the watch on the inside of his wrist, cursing quietly as he sees the time. 'I've got to go,' he's stating, nodding towards his watch and then dropping his arm,'I'd like to talk to you tomorrow, if you're alright with that.'

She's nodding and replying,'I think that is like that too. You know where my cubicle is, so, whenever you want to talk, just stop by.'

His grin is widening and he's clutching his paperwork tightly, joy flowing through him. 'I suppose I'll see you tomorrow then, Clara.'

'See you tomorrow,' she's saying, feeling a mixture of joy and anger overtaking her. 

And with that, he's running off and she's stomping over to the door in front of her, throwing it open. He's glaring over at her as she enters, stopping whatever it was he was doing. She's striding over towards his desk, her movements filled with anger. She's looking at his form, bent over and stiff. She's looking down at his desk to see what he was doing, seeing a piece of paper in front of him, his words stopping mid sentence. As soon as she sees what he's already written, her anger is dissolving almost completely. 

'Are you writing me an apology letter?' She's asking, her voice teasing. 

He's sighing and looking over at her, crumpling up the note on his desk and tossing it into the bin next to his desk. 'Don't need to now that you're here,' he's replying, his voice devoid of emotion. 

She's giving him a confused look and placing her hands on the desk in front of her. 'Well, go one then.'

'I don't think we're working out,' he's stating. 

Her eyes are widening and she's staring at him for a moment before whispering,'Are you breaking up with me?'

'I am, yes,' he's replying, his voice deep. 

'You can't,' she's saying, her words just barely there. 

'Why not?' He's questioning, raising an eyebrow at her. 

'Because I love you,' she's saying, her voice louder than she expected it to be. 

She hadn't really meant it. In all honestly she had no clue why she had said it. She just didn't want to lose him. He was essential to her, even though she'd known him for a short amount of time, she felt like she couldn't really live without him. He's letting out a frustrated breath and roughly planting his hands down on the desk. 

'I think you should leave,' he's stating, a false calmness to his voice. 

'No, not until you change your mind,' she's saying, determined to make things right. 

'Leave! Now!' He's yelling, losing his temper at her stubbornness. 

She's jumping at his sudden change in mood, still refusing to move. So instead he's storming out of his office, leaving without even a simple goodbye. She's staying in his office, unable to move. He'd broken up with her. And with that thought planted firmly in her mind, she began to cry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! I'm probably going to post the next chapter of Kissing Clara Oswald sometime soon (for those of you who read that) so hopefully that goes well. I'm going to be very emotional after tonight's episode so I apologise for any angsty fanfic I post after this. Kudos if you enjoyed and comments are much appreciated.


	7. Forgiveness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Make up cuddles.

He didn't think that he'd ever regretted anything more in his life than he had breaking up with Clara Oswald. She'd been the best things that ever happened to him and he'd simply just let go of her, telling her to go away. He's sighing to himself as he slams his flat door shut. He's staggering over to his room and collapsing into his bed, laying there for a moment before reaching over to his bedside table and grabbing a notepad and pen, sitting up and being to write, only to tear the paper he had been writing on off of the notepad and crumple it up, throwing it towards the foot of the bed. He's repeating this process a few times before throwing his notepad across the room and throwing his torso down onto the bed roughly, immediately regretting this decision as he smells her scent lingering on his pillow. 

He's groaning and rolling onto the other pillow, thankful that her smell is fainter on this one. He's about to let sleep overtake him when he hears his phone chime, eliciting another groan from him. He's withdrawing his phone from his pocket and seeing her name, not bothering to read anymore as he throws his phone down onto the bed and buries his face into his pillow. He's hearing his phone chime multiple times after that, each chime sending a pang of guilt through his heart. He's picking up his phone on the tenth chime, running a hand over his face and reading through all of her texts. 

_We need to talk._

_I need to talk to you._

_Call me. Now._

_Doctor, please._

_Please reply I'm worried about you._

_Doctor._

_Doctor._

_John._

_Are you ignoring me?_

If you don't reply then I'm coming over to your flat so we can talk about what just happened. 

As soon as he finished reading the last message, another message is coming through. 

_Please answer me._

He's begrudgingly sitting up and thumbing a reply, immediately regretting what he messaged her the moment after he send it. 

Stop bothering me. 

He's slamming his phone down on his bed, furious at himself for being so stupid. His phone isn't chiming for a while after that, leaving him engulfed in silence with his torturous nagging him. He's thankful when his silence is interrupted a few minutes later by the chime of his phone. He's swiping it off the bed and looking at her reply, frowning slightly as he sees it. 

_I'm coming over._

He's running a hand through his hair, agitated by her stubbornness. A few moments later he's hearing a knock at him door and stumbling out of bed, not looking forward to seeing her in the slightest. As he gets to the door, he's just standing there, not entirely certain if he should open it or not. He's hearing another knock at him door, this one more aggressive than the last, deciding he best open it before she knocks it down. He's swinging it open, being met by a very emotional looking Clara Oswald. He's looking at her red eyes and her make up that had run quite badly. She'd been crying. 

'Hi,' he's saying, suddenly feeling guilty. 

'Hey,' she's breathing out, her voice sounding like she may cry again. 

Their standing there in silence for a moment, simply just staring at each other. He's walking back to his room without a word, having her reluctantly follow him, closing the door behind her. He's sitting down on his bed once he gets there, having her stand in the doorway, contemplating whether or not it would be a good idea to sit next to him. She's deciding against, telling herself that she can always do it later. He's clearing his throat and nodding down at the spot next to him, breaking her resolve. She's moving over to the spot next to him, sitting down and looking over at him, seeing him biting his lip slightly. 

She feels the need to slip her hand into his, feel the warmth of his skin against hers, but she knows he'd probably pull away immediately, so she's not doing it, feeling sorrow run through her as she thinks about how just yesterday they had slept in the same bed. 

'Why?' She's asking, not realising that that wasn't a fully formed question. 

He knows what she means, of course. And in all honesty, he doesn't know the answer to that question himself. Why has he broken up with Clara Oswald? Broken up wasn't really the right phrase, seeing as though they were never really dating. He's decided that because he doesn't have a good answer, it would be best to just avoid that question all together. 

'Give me your hand,' he's commanding. 

'Answer my question.'

'Give me your hand and I will.'

She's holding her hand out in front of him and giving him a look that tells him he best answer or question or he might get a limb detached from him. 'I don't know,' he's replying simply, gently turning her hand on its side and placing a hand on her palm and a hand on the back of her hand. 

He's curling his fingers around her hand, looking over at her to see her looking at him, her look questioning. She's hesitantly closing her fingers around his hand and looking him in the eye, trying to figure out what exactly he was doing. Then she's feeling a gentle kiss being placed on her index finger. Then another on her middle finger. Then her ring finger. And then finally her pinky, his kiss lingering there for the longest of seconds before he's moving his lips away from her hand and looking over at her, his eyes filled with something that almost looked like love. She's feeling his hold on her hands tighten ever so slightly and she's feeling something inside her finally break and her breath is picking up, something inside her feeling like it was swelling. 

'I was scared,' he's saying, his voice surprising her,'I was scared of getting too close to you and I knew that if I got any closer, then I wouldn't be able to let go of you. I couldn't let that happen, so I left you.'

And with that, he's placing another gentle kiss on her fingers, this time not kissing any finger in specific. She's feeling confusion flutter around inside her, not entirely sure as to why he was kissing her fingers after what he just told her. She's deciding that it's best to push her luck now rather than later, so she's leaning forward to press a cautious kiss on his cheek, only to have him turn his head and capture her lips. Her eyes are closing immediately as she feels his lips against hers, a small smile finding its way onto her lips as she moves them against his. She's cupping his cheek with her freehand and tilting her head, enjoying the new angle it gives her. She's feeling his hands tighten around hers and before she even realises what's happening, she's feeling him pull her down down onto the bed, eliciting a muffled squeak from her. He's chuckling gently against her lips as they land on the bed, a noise that causes her heart to swell. 

She's pulling away from him and laughing lightly, the sound flowing through his ears and causing him to grin. She's going to bury her face into the crook of his neck, discovering that their still linked hands got in the way of her doing that. So she's whispering gently, telling him to let go of her hand, having him refuse and keep a firm grip on her hand. She's pouring and he's sighing, his resolve breaking. He's smiling sadly up at her and taking his hands off of hers, placing them on his chest. She's smiling appreciatively at him and flattening her hand on his chest, placing a gentle kiss on his chin and noticing a little bit of stubble there. 

'You should let your facial hair grow out,' she's teasing, a smirk playing at her lips. 

'Never in a million years, Clara Oswald,' he's murmuring, taking a hand off his chest and holding her chin in between his thumb and forefinger. 

He's leaning forward, going to place his lips on hers, only to have her duck her head so his lips make contact with her nose. He's frowning, a question almost instinctively coming out of his mouth,'What's wrong?'

'Thought we were broken up,' she's whispering, a sliver of sadness in her voice. 

'Do you want to break up with me?' He's asking, his tone serious. 

'No, but it's not really my call, you were the one that-' 

She's getting abruptly cut off by him pulling her chin forward and planting his lips on hers, kissing her gently, pouring all the love he can into the kiss. She's not quite responding at first, and even as she does, she's not putting much into it, exhausted by him going back and forth between distant and loving. 

He's pulling away and his hand is dropping away from her chin, a concerned look on his face. 'Did I do something wrong?' He's asking, his concern showing in his tone. 

She's shaking her head no and whispering in reply,'Just very confused.'

He's laughing gently, the concern melting from his face. He's asking if she'd like to just lay here for a while and talk, and she's nodding, laying down next to him and resting her ear against his chest, her hand still planted on the centre of his chest. He's placing a hand on hers and for awhile, they're just sitting there, silence ringing out between them. He's the one to finally break the silence, asking if he'd ever told her about his trip to Egypt where he'd met a false goddess. She's laughing gently and telling him that he hasn't, so he's going on to tell her the story of how he almost died trying to rid the town he was in of the false goddess. Once he's finished, she's leaning up and pecking his lips, moving back down and resting her head just below his neck. 

She's feeling love flow through her, the feeling surprising her. She feels the urge to wrap her arms around him and place kisses on his collar bone, pull off his excessive amount of layers and litter him with kisses. She can't find it in herself to give into that urge, knowing that he would never approve. So she's simply settling with kissing the side of his neck and moving her hand up his chest, hooking her fingers in the collar of his shirt. He's resting his chin on the top of her head and wrapping his arm around her waist, pulling her closer. She's nuzzling her head into his shirt and closing her eyes, finding comfort in his warmth. 

After awhile of simply just lying there, she's opening her eyes and looking up at him, placing a kiss on his jawline. She's hearing him grunt slightly from above her, feeling him stir under her. She's laughing gently, realising that he had fallen asleep. She's trying to free herself from him, only to find his arm wrapped tightly around her. 

'Doctor,' she's whispering, pushing herself up and looking at his face. She's cupping his cheek and patting it lightly, trying to get him to open his eyes. 

His eyes are drifting open and he's glaring weakly at her, his eyes filled with sleep. She's placing a kiss on his lips and looking at his disheveled state, smiling at the way his whole expression looks more relaxed than it had earlier. 

'We should eat dinner,' he's stating, his voice rough. 

'Yeah, probably,' she's whispering, leaning forward and placing a kiss on the tip of his nose. 

'Well then, I suppose we should get up then,' he's saying, his voice quiet. He's taking his hand off hers and wrapping it around her waist, his hands meeting on her lower back. He's sitting up and pulling her up with him, pronouncing cheerfully as he pulls her up,'Up you go, Clara Oswald!'

She's laughing freely as he pulls her up, telling him to stop. He's standing up and holding her waist tightly, carrying her to the living room and placing her down on the couch, having her kick him and laugh the whole way there. He's falling down next to her, declaring that they were going to be eating dinner at a restaurant. She's asking him if he's even capable of acting like a proper human being while out in public and he's scowling at her, telling her that he is perfectly capable of being normal. So she's taking him up on his offer and he's grabbing her hand, pulling her off the couch and running over to the door, throwing it open. And off they go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Kudos if you liked and comments are always appreciated.


	8. Soufflés

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A date and some fluff.

He'd taken her to a fairly nice place a few blocks away for dinner. She'd noticed on the way there that his hair was still sticking up all over the place and so she'd told him to stop, running her hands through his hair and attempting to neaten it up once he'd stopped. He'd took this hair ruffling as an invitation to stare at her lips, so he'd done so, not quite noticing when she stopped fixing his hair. She'd caught him staring at her lips and laughed, leaning forward and placing a chaste kiss on his lips, telling him that she was glad they didn't break up. They'd looked at each other for a moment before having him his throat and turn on his heel, continuing to make his way to the restaurant. 

They're sitting in the restaurant now, waiting for someone to come around and serve them, and she's looking around, trying to figure out why exactly he took her here. It doesn't look like a place that he would typically eat at. Then she's noticing how empty it is and realises that he must have taken her to one of the least popular restaurants in town just so he wouldn't get jittery at the amount of people surrounding them. She's trying to talk to him as they wait, only to get grunts in reply from him. She gave up once the waiter got there, both of them order their food and then sitting in silence after that. 

He hadn't eaten when his food got there and simply just stared at his plate, trying to avoid her harsh gaze. She's asking for their check before she finishes her food, deciding it'd be best to leave before he becomes anymore distant (if that was even possible). He's paying with a slightly confused look on his face, having her grab his hand and pull him up as soon as he gives his money to the waiter. They're walking out of the restaurant, him being a little reluctant to do so. As soon as they leave the restaurant, he's asking why they left, not getting an answer from her. She's simply walking forward, having him follow close behind, complaining every so often. She's stopping in front of a flat building and glancing over at him, biting her lip slightly.

She's hesitantly pulling him towards the building and pushing open the door, bounding up the stairs and stopping in front of a certain flat door. He's watching as she pulls a key out of her pocket and placing it in the lock, suddenly realising that they've stopped in front of her flat. She's pushing open the door and leading him inside, letting go of his hand and telling him to make himself at home as she closes the door behind her. He's strolling through the main corridor, peaking through each doorway, looking for the living room. He's finding it at the end of the hallway, going in and deciding to just stand there and wait for further instruction from her. She's joining him a few minutes later with two plates in hand, furrowing her brow as she sees him awkwardly standing in the middle of the room. 

'Sit down,' she's instructing. 

He's taking two big steps towards the couch and falling down onto it, looking up at her, awaiting her next instruction. She's walking over to the couch and handing him one of the plates, having him take it from her and look curiously at the sandwich on top. He's lifting the top piece of bread and looking at the contents of the sandwich. He's shrugging slightly and placing the bread back on top, picking up the sandwich and taking a bite. She's watching him curiously as he places the sandwich back on the plate and puts it down on the coffee table in front of him, looking over at her. 

'Do you only ever make sandwiches?' He's questioning. 

'I'm going to pretend you didn't just ask that,' she's stating, looking down at her sandwich. She's sighing and placing her plate down next to his, looking over at him. She's placing her hand on his cheek and looking into his eyes, seeing a look of adoration in his eyes. 

'Sorry,' he's uttering, his voice apologetic. 

She's leaning forward and placing a kiss on the corner of his lips. 'I've an idea,' she's whispering. 

He's smiling slightly and asking,'And what would that be?'

She's dropping her hand from his cheek and sliding it down his arm, entwining her fingers with his. 'Follow me,' she's whispering, standing up and quickly walking out of the room, having him follow on her heel. 

She's entering the kitchen and dropping his hand, opening the cupboards and grabbing things down from the selves. She's going to reach up for the top shelf and not quite being able to reach what she wants, feeling him come up from behind her, his chest grazing her back as he reaches up and takes the flour off the top shelf, placing it down on the counter in front of her. Her breath is hitching as she feels his chest come into full contact with her back, his head dropping down, his mouth next to her ear. His breath on her ear sends a chill down her spine, causing her to freeze in her spot. 

'Need anything else?' He's questioning, his voice low.

You. 

She's quickly shaking that thought out of her head, telling him no quietly and thanking him. He's leaning into her and grabbing the counter in front of him, placing his lips on her neck and sucking gently at it. She's shivering and he's laughing lightly against her neck, having felt her shiver. He's taking his lips off her neck and pushing further into her, pressing her up against the counter. He's pressing his lips to the top of her ear and working his way down, smiling against her as he gets to her jawline and hears her whimper. He's stopping abruptly and moving back up to her ear. 

'So then, Clara Oswald, your plan,' he's whispering huskily, pushing off the counter and taking a few steps away from her, hearing her groan. 

'Soufflé,' she's breathing out, still dazed by what just happened,'Wanted to make a soufflé.'

He's laughing gently, inwardly proud of himself for being able to do this to her. 'Alright. Tell me what to do.'

'Do the uhm...measure the...' She's pausing for a long moment, attempting to point at the things in front of her, letting out an exasperated huff instead of saying something. 

And of course because he is himself and she is Clara Oswald, he understands her perfectly and moves to her side, grabbing the measuring cups in front of her and asking her how much of each thing he should measure. She's letting out a deep breath and regaining her composure and facing towards him, telling him the measurements rather confidently. He's measuring the amounts while she moves over to the fridge and gets what she needs out of it, placing the items on the counter. She's hearing her name and looking over at him, being met by a puff of flour he'd flicked at her. She's frowning at him and quickly reaching over, grabbing a handful of flour from the bag and getting on her tiptoes, slowly pouring it over the top of his head into his hair. 

He's ruffling his fingering through his hair, causing flour to puff out every which way. She's scrunching her face up at him and looking at the cloud of flour surrounding him, watching as it drifts down and thinly coats his velvet jacket. 'This is ridiculous,' he's stating, brushing off one of his sleeves. 

'You're the one that started it,' she's saying accusingly, a hint of amusement in her voice. 

'We're not playing the blame game here, Clara,' he's saying seriously. 

She's sighing and turning towards the counter, beginning to mix together ingredients. He's frowning and reaching into the flour bag and grabbing a small handful of flour, opening his palm and letting some of it drift off his hand and onto the floor. He's pressing his open palm against her cheek, having flour cloud around her face. She's quickly snapping her head towards him and glaring at him. 

'Thought you wanted to stop,' she's stating, slightly confused. 

'Didn't say that I wanted to stop,' he's saying, his voice suddenly deep. 

Her eyes are widening slightly, feeling something jolt through her at his deep tone. He's staring at her for a moment before feeling his body lean forward, his lips being planted firmly on hers. They're kissing for long enough for the eggs on the counter to go warm and all the flour drifting through the air to settle on the floor. Once they're breaking apart, she's laughing gently, her laugh struggling to escape through her heavy breathes. One of her hands had found its way to his hair and the other into his free hand, holding onto it lightly. He's resting his forehead against her, his hand still resting on her cheek. 

'I love you, Clara Oswald,' he's breathing out, not realising what he's saying even after he's said it. 

She's letting out a shaky breath and tightening her grip on his hand, knowing that she can't say it back to him. He's only realising what he said after he doesn't get a reply from her, quickly and quietly apologising to her. 

'Don't you dare apologise, you daft old man,' she's commanding, her voice hushed. 

He's closing his eyes and letting go of her hand, cupping her other cheek. He's saying nothing and simply just standing there in silence, cursing himself for letting those words slip out of his mouth. 'We should probably get to making that soufflé now,' she's whispering teasingly after a long while of silence. 

'Would it be alright if you just made it by yourself?' He's questioning, his voice containing a hint of nervousness. 

She's dropping her hand from his hair and taking her forehead off his, replying simply,'Of course.'

His hands are falling from her cheeks and he's saying thankfully,'Sorry I can't, just need a bit of a lie down.'

'Go to the living room and lie down, I'll be in there in a moment,' she's saying, shooing him off towards the living room. 

He's leaving the kitchen and strolling into the living room, looking around for something to keep himself busy. She's coming into the living room a few minutes later to find him fiddling with her TV remote, parts of it scattered about the table. She's quietly making her way next to him and sitting cross legged on the floor next to where he was couched down. 

'What're you up to?' She's questioning, causing him to look over at her. 

'Don't know how your remote works. Need to figure it out,' he's snapping his head back towards the table and taking more of the innards out of it, throwing them on the table. 

'If you don't put that together correctly, you owe me a new one,' she's stating, placing her hands on her knees. 'Sit down,' she's commanding, imagining that the position he was in couldn't be too terribly comfortable. 

He's obliging and mirroring her other than her hands, due to the fact that he was currently busy at work with her remote. She's moving a hand over to his knee and shaking it lightly, having him look over at her curiously. 

'I do love you, you know?' She's questioning, proud of herself for being able to admit it to him. 'It's hard for me to say that, so I'm sorry I didn't say that earlier. It's just, I promised those three words to my last boyfriend and I feel guilty saying them to anyone else.'

He's staring at her like a bewildered owl for a moment before placing a hand over the one on his knee and curling his fingers around it. He's going back to his work and sorting out the parts with one hand, having her watch him intently. She's leaning up and placing a quick kiss on his cheek, her hand gently squeezing his knee. She's resting her head on the side of his arm and watching as he closely inspects a bit of the circuit board. She's turning her head and propping her chin up on his shoulder, looking up at the look of wonder on his face. This look, she's decided, is one of her favourite sights in the world. His hand is leaving hers and reaching up for a part on the table, going to put the remote back together. 

'Hey,' she's whispering, her voice deeper than usual. 

She's receiving a grunt in reply from him and she's scrunching her face up at it, bowing her head so her nose is on his shoulder. 'Hey,' she's repeating, poking the side of his arm. 

'What?' He's replying gruffly, still focusing on the remote in front of him. 

She's pressing a kiss onto his sleeve and smiling slightly. 'I love you,' she's saying, her voice muffled by his sleeve. 

He's stiffening, his movements stopping. 'You already know how I feel about you,' he's stating after a while, his voice deep. And with that, he's continuing to fix her remote, glancing over at her, her smile as she looks up at him causing a slight smile to play at his lips. He's realising that he has most certainly lost himself to Clara Oswald.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! As per usual, leave a kudos if you liked and comments are always appreciated.


	9. An Adventure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An adventure, Basil, and ownership of people.

The sound of the oven beeping is interrupting their intimate staring session, causing her to jump slightly as she realises there's a world outside of him. 'Soufflé's done,' she's whispering, causing his lips to curl downward. 

She's placing a chaste kiss in the corner of his lips, standing up and rushing her way to the kitchen. He's hearing a curse come from the kitchen and chuckling softly, standing up to go and help her. 

'Everything okay in there?' He's questioning loudly, striding towards the kitchen. 

'Everything's fine!' She's calling back, her voice much higher than usual. 

As he enters the kitchen, a snort is escaping him. On the top of the counter lay a smoking dish containing what he assumed used to be a soufflé. He's taking a few cautious steps forward and taking her oven mitt from her, picking up the used to be soufflé and placing it in the sink, running water over it. He's handing the oven mitt back to her and going to walk back to the living room, having her grab his wrist and pull him back towards her. He's stumbling back towards her and feeling arms wrap around his torso, holding him tightly. He's awkwardly wrapping his arms around her and trying to figure out what he's supposed to do after that. 

'I'm sorry,' she's whispering, her voice dripping with sorry. 

'It's fine,' he's replying, making his embrace a tad bit less awkward by shifting his hands on her back into a comfortable position. 

'I've never been able to make a soufflé,' she's murmuring,'I thought with you here this time, it might work.'

'Why's making soufflés so important to you?' He's questioning gently. 

'My mum used to make soufflés,' she's replying simply, holding him closer. 

He's understanding what she means instantly and letting her hold him for as long as she pleases, knowing she probably has never has anyone to mourn with for a long while. It's taking a lot less time for her to mourn than he had originally thought, having her let go only a minute or two of hugging him. She's apologising and going to turn off the sink, her eyes red. She's telling him he should probably leave so he didn't have to deal with anymore of her moping, telling him that tonight had already gone bad enough and it could only go downhill from here. He's telling her that he's not leaving and taking a step over to her, linking his hand with hers. She's turning her head back and looking at him with a look that makes his heart feel like it's breaking into a million pieces. 

'Oh, Clara,' he's breathing out, his voice sympathetic. He's pulling on her hand gently and guiding her toward the front door. He's pulling open the front door and stepping out, having her follow him without question. He's closing the door and kneeling down to her level, cupping her cheek. 

'I'm going to take you on an adventure, Clara Oswald,' he's murmuring, his voice hinting at excitement. 

'There's nowhere to adventure near here, Doctor,' she's saying, exhausted. 

'There's always somewhere to adventure,' He's saying excitedly, his voice hushed. His hand's falling from her cheek as he pulls her down the staircase, having her nearly trip on the first few steps. 

'Slow down, Doctor!' She's exclaiming as she's struggling to keep her footing on the steps. 

As much as he wants to tell her that adventure doesn't wait for people and that they need to hurry, but he can't because there's still that part of him that can't find the will to say no to her. So he's slowing down and letting her correct her footing, speeding up slightly when she finally gets into the swing of things. Once they get to the front door, he's pushing it open, striding out with her in toe. 

'Where're we going?' She's finally asking, curiosity filling her voice. 

'You'll find out,' he's saying, a hint of annoyance in his voice. 

So she's following him, looking around at their surroundings as they begin to slow down. He's coming to a complete stop once they enter a forest, him sticking his finger in his mouth and holding it in front of him, informing her that adventure was close. She's laughing at the daftness of his actions and asking him what exactly he just did, having him inform her that he can detect adventure. She probably should think him mad, but for some reason, she believes him. She's letting him drag her deeper into the forest, feeling completely safe letting him take her wherever he pleases, knowing that he'd never do anything to hurt her. 

He's stopping and pushing her up against the nearest tree, swooping down so his lips were almost grazing hers. 'Adventure awaits, Ms.Oswald,' he's murmuring, his warn breath on her lips torturing her. 

He's going to pull away, only to have her grab the lapels of his jacket and pull him forward, her lips crashing against his. He's responding without hesitation, pushing his body into hers, causing her to back up against the tree he had pushed her against, the bark of the tree painfully pushing into her back. 

'I love you,' she's whimpering against his lips, her hands somehow finding their way into his hair. 

He's pulling away from her and grinning like an idiot, saying quietly,'I do believe I took you here for an adventure, not just to snog you senseless in the woods.'

'Then get on with the adventure,' she's murmuring, a hint of excitement in her voice. 

He's slipping his hand into hers and navigating his way slowly though the trees, making sure she stays close. They're exiting the forest and her mouth is falling open as she sees they're on a cliff, the sight of the sunset a beautiful thing to behold from this high up. 'How've I never know about this before?' She's questioning, absolutely amazed by all the colours blending together in the sky. 

'Suppose you just haven't adventured enough,' he's teasing, walking her to the edge of the cliff and sitting her down, sitting down next to her, his knee touching hers. He places their linked hands on his knee and looks over at her, smiling contently. 

'How come you know about this?' She's questioning, not being able to read her gaze from the astonishing sight in front of her. 

'I explore much more than I would like to admit,' he's admitting, a slight hint of something that sounded almost like shame in his voice. 

She's laughing lightly, glad that she was getting to see a new side of him. She's watching as the sun falls behind the horizon, too distracted by it to notice him looking at her. 

'Thank you for this,' she's saying, her voice sincere. 

She's resting her head on his shoulder and a content smile is finding its way onto her face. They sit there long after the sun goes down and the stars come out, neither of them willing to leave the comfort of the other or the sight in front of them. So they sit there all night, eventually laying down, their limbs tangling up. They fall asleep under the stars that night, the both of them completely and utterly content. 

-

They'd woken up late the next day, due to the fact that they'd had no alarm clock to wake them up in the forest. They'd quickly gotten up and rushed to work, arriving there only a few minutes late. Their walking to their respected work areas, flirting the whole way there. She's getting to her cubicle to find a lanky man standing in the entrance to said cubicle, a grin lighting up his face as he sees her. 

'Clara!' Basil's saying cheerfully, not noticing the man at her side. 

John's glaring at the man and leaning down to place a kiss on her cheek, making sure it lingers longer than it should. 'Meet me in my office once you're done flirting with bow tie over there,' he's uttering, earning a glare from her. 

'I love you, you idiot,' she's whispering, turning her head towards him and placing a kiss on his lips. 

He's giving her an idiotic grin and sauntering into his office, casting a glare at Basil over his shoulder before closing his office door. Basil's looking at her now, his look a tad bit frightened. 

'Is that your dad?' He's questioning. 

She's breathing out a laugh and replying,'He's my doctor.'

'But you,' he's gesturing wildly between her and John's door,'You two...' He's making a kissing gesture with his lips, his hand stationed awkwardly mid-flail. 

'Like said,' she's saying, taking walking slowly to her desk,'My doctor.'

He's giving up on trying to find out exactly what's going on and asking her the question he had originally come here to ask,'Would you like to go to lunch with me?'

She's looking over at him, smiling slightly,'As much as I would love that, I'm busy during lunch.'

'How about this weekend?' He's questioning quickly, his voice slightly nervous. 

'I have a thing this weekend, sorry,' she's replying, her voice apologetic. 

'Perhaps another time then,' he's exclaiming, rubbing his hands together and trying to stay optimistic. 

She's smiling sadly and leaning on her desk, giving him a quick goodbye and waiting for him to leave before walking over to John's office. She's cracking the door open and peeking in, seeing him doodling on a notepad instead of getting actual work done. She's pushing his door open just enough so she can squeeze though and walking over to him, a confident smirk on her lips. 

'How'd your talk with bow tie go?' He's asking smugly. 

 

'He tried to ask me to lunch. I think you have some competition,' she's teasing, sitting down on his desk. 

He's standing up slowly and planting his hands on the desk, his gaze piercing. He's leaning forward, his brow furrowing. 'He's not getting you,' he's growling,'You are mine.'

She's looking over at him and gripping the side of the desk tightly, her expression a mixture of fear and sorrow. 

His expression is quickly softening as he sees the expression on her face and he's frowning. 'What's wrong?' He's questioning, his voice confused. 

She's quickly jumping off his desk and walking over to the door, gripping the handle. 'I'm not yours,' she's saying quietly, her voice firm. 

He's running a hand across his face as he realises what was wrong with what he had said. 'Sorry, I didn't mean that.' He's pausing for a moment, dropping his hand from his face and giving her potentially one of the most sorrowful looks she's ever seen. 'I'm completely yours. No doubt about it. So I just guess I kind of assumed it was the same for you.'

She's sighing and letting go of the door handle, taking small steps towards him. She's stopping once she gets in front of him, getting up on her tiptoes and looking into his eyes. 'I would be happy to be yours, but just know that you do not own me.'

He's smiling slightly and nodding, muttering deeply,'I am completely and utterly yours, Clara Oswald.'

She's smiling and placing a kiss on the corner of his lips, whispering,'My John.' 

'My Clara,' he's replying in a hushed voice, looking at her with love in his eyes. He's leaning down to kiss her, having her lean up to meet him in the middle, only to have his door open and a coworker burst in. They're quickly jumping away from each other, both of their gates snapping towards the door. 

Basil. Of course Basil, he'd be the only person to burst into an office unannounced. 

'Clara!' He's exclaiming,'I was wondering where you were, I needed to ask you a question.'

'Basil,' she's saying, her voice shrill. 'Could you uhm, wait outside the door for a few moments and let me finish what I was doing with John?' 

'What exactly was it that you were doing?' He's questioning, looking around the room for any hint of what they were doing. 

'Please just go sit out by the door, Basil,' she's saying, desperation in her voice. 

He's moving his lips to the side and obliging, trying to figure out what exactly he had just walked into. 

'Really?' John's questioning, amused,'That's my competition?' 

'Shut up,' she's whispering, striding towards him and placing her hand on the back of his neck, pulling him down and kissing him. The separate a few seconds later, her resting her forehead on his chest and mumbling,'Suppose I should go see what Basil wants now.'

He's wrapping his arms around her, surprising her, seeing as though this is the first time he has willingly engaged a hug. They're saying nothing for the duration of the hug, him being the one to pull away in the end. 'See you at lunch?' He's questioning, his voice containing a hint of hopefulness. 

'Defiantly,' she's answering, sliding her hand off his neck and placing one last kiss on his lips, walking over to the door and casting a glance at him before leaving, being met by a very lost looking Basil at the side of the door. 

The explanation of what was going on between her and John took over an hour.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Basil may or may not become a major problem in the future *cough cough*. Leave a kudos if you liked and comments are always appreciated.


	10. Jealousy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Clara agrees to go to dinner with Basil and we discover that John is a science nerd.

By the time lunch rolled around, neither John nor Clara were in the mood to eat. Which was probably a good thing considering the fact that she hadn't brought them lunches today due to the fact that they were in a rush this morning. They'd talked in his office for a few minutes about their plans for that night, deciding it'd be best to spend the night alone. She'd gone back to her cubicle after this, finishing up her work and promptly packing up to go home. She's rushing to the front door, accidentally running into a blur of purple tweed on the way and falling to the floor. 

She's groaning and pushing herself up, noticing someone under her. She's opening her eyes that had been squeezed shut during the fall to see none other than Basil lying under her. She's groaning again and bowing her head, her short hair cascading down his shoulder and just barely touching the ground. 

'Basil,' she's stating, her tone warning. 

'Clara,' he's saying, his voice weak and slightly fearful. 

She's glaring up at him through her curtain of hair for a moment before getting off of him, brushing off the hem of her skirt. He's standing up and grinning nervously, wringing his hands in front of him. 'Sorry about that. Just needed to ask you a question,' he's saying, his voice back to its usual cheerful tone. 

She's crossing her arms and waiting for him to ask his question. It's taking him a second to catch on, his eyes lighting up once he does. 'Would you like to go to dinner?' He's questioning, his tone hopeful. 

She's biting her lip slightly, deciding that there's not really anything else for her to do for the rest of the night, seeing as though she's not seeing John. 'You're not going to stop until I say yes are you?' She's questioning. 

He's shrugging, a grin finding its way onto his lips. She's sighing and looking him up and down before saying,'Ask me tomorrow.'

He's furrowing his brow, asking her why. 'Because tomorrow I might say yes,' she's replying, her tone teasing. 

His grin is somehow managing to widen as he hears her words. He's telling her he'll keep her to that and then telling her bye, running back to his cubicle and letting her leave the office building without anymore interruptions. As she's walking home, she's pulling her phone out of her pocket and sending a quick text to John. 

_Left work early, going to dinner with Basil tomorrow. Hope the rest of your day goes well. Love you x_

She's sliding her phone back into her pocket and walking the rest of the way to her flat, her gaze lingering on the forest she was in just that morning as she passes it. She's entering her flat building and bounding up the stairs, unlocking her flat door once she gets there and pushing it open, walking into her flat with a small smile playing at her lips. She's closing the door behind her, checking her phone and seeing a reply from John, causing the smile playing at her lips to turn into a full blown smile. 

_You're going on a date with bow tie?_

She's quickly thumbing a reply while walking to her kitchen, placing her phone down on the counter after she sends the message. 

_Not a date, just dinner._

She's strolling over to her fridge pulling open the door, casting a quick glance at her phone to see if he'd replied yet. Which, to her disappointment, he hadn't. She's pulling some leftover Chinese out of the fridge from one of their most recent dates and slamming shut the fridge door, moving over to a drawer and grabbing a fork out of it. She's taking her phone if the counter and making her way to her living room, checking to see if any texts had come from John on the way. She sitting down on her couch once she gets to her living room and placing her phone on the coffee table, turning on the TV and beginning to eat her dinner. She's seeing her phone light up a few minutes later and quickly reaching over for it, reading the text he'd sent her. 

_Wouldn't you rather go on a date with me?_

She's breathing out a laugh at his ego, deciding that she would much rather eat dinner with Basil than have to deal with a meal filled with John teasing her about how she almost went to dinner with Basil but chose him instead. 

_Think I'd rather go to dinner with Basil._

She's going to go put her phone back on the table, not expecting a reply from him for a while, only to see her screen light up right before her phone touches the table. She's pulling her phone back up towards her and reading his message. 

_If we're not going on a date tomorrow then you owe me one tonight._

She's pressing her lips together. 

_Thought we agreed that we were going to stay at our own houses tonight?_

He's replying almost immediately after her message is sent. 

_Didn't expect you to go on a date with bow tie tomorrow when I agreed to that._

She's deciding that it'd probably be easier to call him at this point and decide whether they were going on a date or not instead of just spending the next hour texting and getting nowhere with their plans. She's pressing the call button on her phone and listening as her phone rings for far too long before he picks up. 

'Clara!' He's saying, his voice containing a hint of excitement. 

'Doctor,' she's replying, placing her nearly finished dinner on the table in front of her. She's hearing a crashing noise followed by a curse coming from his side of the phone and trying to contain the smirk that's forcing its way onto her lips. 'You okay over there?'

'Yeah, just fine. Just, lost a thing.' He's replying, sounding slightly distracted. 

'A thing?' She's questioning. 

'Yes, a thing. If you come over I can show you.' He's saying, his words followed by the sound of a door slamming shut. 

'Tell me what this thing is and maybe I'll come over,' she's stating, her voice persuasive. 

'It's like a worm, but with suckers,' he's stating quickly, obviously not paying too much attention to their conversation. 

'If you lost it how are you going to show it to me?' She's questioning, trying to hide her amusement. 

'I'll find it by the time you get over here. Just hurry up and come over, I want to see you.' He's replying. 

She's smiling slightly and standing up, picking up the rest of her leftovers and heading over to the kitchen. 'I'll be there in a few minutes,' she's saying, perhaps a bit more excited to see him than she should be. 

'I'll see you then, Clara Oswald,' he's saying, his smile evident in his voice. 

She's throwing away the remains of her dinner and throwing her fork in the sink, leaning back on the counter, her smile widening. 'See you then, Doctor.'

With that he's hanging up and she's quickly exiting her flat, making her way to his. She's arriving at his flat to find a sign sloppily tapped to his door that read 'GO AWAY HUMANS'. She's furrowing her brow at this and knocking on his door, hearing a deep voice yell from the other side to tell her that it was open. She's opening the door and seeing him crouching on the floor in front of his couch, his back facing her. He's turning his head back towards her and grins as he sees her. 

'Hi,' she's stating, slightly confused as to what was going on,'You are aware that there's a sign on your door that says 'Go away humans'?'

'I put that there,' he's replying simply, looking away from her and down at the thing in front of him. 

She's closing the door and striding over to him, looking down at the jar in front of him before crouching down beside him to get a better look at what was in the jar. He's sitting on the flip and picking up the jar, turning so he's facing her. She's facing him as well and sitting down, her gaze still fixed on the jar. He's leaning forward and placing a quick kiss on her lips, smiling as he sees her eyes widen slightly at his unexpected kiss. 

'I've missed you, Clara Oswald.' He's stating, his voice slightly sad. 

'It's not even been a full day since you last saw me,' she's saying, confused. 

He's ignoring her statement and handing her the jar, having her take it from him and examine the thing in it closely. 'I named it Suckers,' he's stating, watching as she examines it. 

'Where'd you find it?' She's questioning, watching as the worm like creature crawls up the side of the jar with the assistance of his suckers. 

'Next to a playground,' he's replying. 

'What all do you know about it?' 

'Well, as you already know, he has suckers. He also has a small mouth and a rather vicious looking tongue that has a venom sack in it,' he's saying, excitement in him voice. 

'How do you know it have a venom sack in its tongue?' She's asking, not really seeing how he could know that. 

'It licked me,' he's replying, showing her his finger, which had a moderately sized red dot on it with a small purple dot in the middle of it. 

Her eyes are widening and she's questions worriedly,'Couldn't you die from that?'

'Not enough came into contact with my skin to kill me,' he's answering, putting his hand back into his lap. 

She's looking at him skeptically for a moment before deciding to believe him and focusing her attention back on the jar. She's watching at the creature in the jar opens its small mouth and licks the side of the jar, giving her a good look at its tongue. The first thing that she noticed that it was slimy. Very slimy. She's then noticing that it starts off as a light green that fades into a dark purple further down that tongue. 'Doctor, it's licking the jar,' she's telling him, slightly concerned. 

'It does that,' he's saying while taking the jar back from her, placing it on the floor next to him. 

She's frowning at him, reaching for the jar only to have him grab her wrist and stop her. She's looking up at him and raising an eyebrow, quickly lowering it as she sees a sorrowful look claiming his features. She's reaching up with her free hand and cupping his cheek, questioning,'What's wrong?' 

'Nothing,' he's lying, not even attempting to rid his expression of sorrow. 

'Then why do you look so sad?' She's questioning, shifting closer to him. 

He's choosing to ignore her question and move his hand on her wrist into her hand, moving his other hand to the one on his cheek and gently pulling it over, offering her a sad smile before standing up and pulling her up with him. 'Follow me,' he's saying, his voice emotionless. 

She's following his instructions and following him to a room, watching as he pulls out a key and unlocks the door to the room. He's pulling her into the room and closing the door behind them, letting go of her hand. She's looking around the room, seeing bookcases littered with an assortment of parts and machines. She's seeing a desk at the front of the room and walking towards it, her eyes sparking with wonder as she sees what's in the desk. Half finished gadgets and blueprints cover the desk, making it unable to see any part of actual desk. She's looking closer at one of his blueprints, smiling as she sees its for something extremely daft. A robotic squirrel. 

'Are you really planning on making a robotic squirrel?' She's questioning, still inspecting the paper in front of her. 

'Already did, actually,' he's replying, striding over to one of the bookshelves and grabbing the invention off of it, making his way towards her and placing it in front of her. 

She's looking at it and breathing out a laugh, asking him what it does. He's picking it up and winding up the crank on it back, placing it down and letting it prance around on the table. To her surprise, it moves a lot like an actual squirrel, it's movements only a tad bit more robotic than an actual squirrel, which was to be expected. It's running around the desk until the crank on its back stop spinning, causing it to stop abruptly. He's picking it up along with the blueprints and throwing the blueprints into a nearly full box on the floor, placing the squirrel back in its rightful place. 

'What else have you made?' She's asking, astonished by the fact that she'd just discovered a new side of him without even trying. 

'Well,' he's saying, scratching the back of his head and looking around. He's grabbing a few items off the shelves surrounding them and putting them onto the desk. He's picking up the first gadget, holding it up and starting,'This is a condensed guitar amp. It has all the power and sound of a full sized guitar amp except it's condensed down into just the part of the guitar cable that you actually plug into the guitar. The sound is transmitted through here,' he's pointing at the plug part of the gadget,'and comes out of here.' He's pointing at the other end of the cable that looks like a small, almost minuscule, speaker. 

'That's amazing,' she's commenting, looking intently at the device in his hand. 'Can you plug it into a guitar and show me if it actually works?' 

He's smiling and placing it back on the desk,'Maybe in a little while.' 

He's picking up the next item and pressing a button on the side of it to turn it on. 'This device is like a universal key. Well, that's what it's supposed to be like, but it has a few flaws I'm trying to fix. It works by using sonic waves to unlock doors, but the problem is is that some locks take different sonic signatures, so I'm trying to figure that out.'

Her eyes are widening,'Wait, so that can open almost any door?' 

'Yeah,' he's replying, placing it down on his desk. 

'Why do you work in an office building if you can invent things like that?' She's questioning, beyond confused as to why he had such a boring job. 

He's shrugging,'I like my job. Helps me pretend like I have a simple boring life.'

She's staring at him incredulously for a moment before crossing her arms and strolling around the room, examining the devices that were scattered about. 'Why haven't you told me about any of this before?' She's asking, not bothering to look over at him. 

'Didn't think you'd want to date me if you knew I was into all this sciencey stuff,' he's answering, shoving his hands into his pockets. 

She's looking back at him, her eyes narrowed. 'You know, even being able to invent all this stuff, you really are an idiot.'

He's raising his eyebrow at her, watching as she closes in on him. She's getting up on her tiptoes and placing a gentle kiss on his lips, smiling at him as she lowers herself back into her feet. 'Everything in this room is amazing, Doctor. If anything, it only makes me want to date you more.'

He's breathing out a laugh and smiling slightly, reaching down and entwining his fingers with hers. 'You asked me why I was sad earlier,' he's saying suddenly,'It's because I was afraid of losing you to bow tie.'

Her eyes are widening slightly,'You actually thought you were going to lose me to Basil?' 

He's saying nothing and looking at her almost mournfully, his eyes suddenly filled with the sadness from earlier. She's cupping his cheek like she had last time, looking into his sad eyes and searching them for a hint of anything else. 'Tell me what you're thinking,' she's whispering, her hand tightening ever so slightly around his. 

'I thought this might be the last date we were going to go on, so I decided to show you this room because I thought it might be my last chance to,' he's replying, leaning into her touch. 

She's smiling sadly,'I'm sorry to inform you of this, Doctor, but you're stuck with me.'

He's smiling slightly,'I think I'm okay with that.'

She's smiling an actual proper smile now and dropping her hand from his, letting it rest at her side. 'I love you,' she's saying after a moment, love sparking in her eyes.

His smile is widening and he's leaning down to place his lips on hers, kissing her gently. She's burying her free hand into his hair and smiling into the kiss, feeling his hands find their way to either side of her waist. They're like this for a few moments before she pulls away and rests her head on his chest, laughing gently. 

'Can I try and use that universal key?' She's asking quietly, trying to hide the excitement in her voice. 

'Just make sure you don't break it,' he's saying, taking a hand off her hip and reaching towards the desk, picking up the device and handing it to her. She's taking her hands off of him and taking the device from him, excitement overtaking her. 

'How does it work?' She's questioning, staring down at it. 

'Just point it towards the lock and press the button on it.'

She's holding the device out towards the door's lock and pressing the button, listening to the sound of the sonic waves flow through the air before she hears the sound of a lock clicking. She's grinning and running over to the door, placing her hand on the handle and going to turning it. She's laughing as the door handle doesn't budge and she's grinning over at him. 'You're a genius!' She's exclaiming, letting her hand drop from the doorknob. 

No one had ever called John Smith a genius before this very moment, and it's at this very moment that he decides this is the woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed! Kudos if you liked and comments are always appreciated.


	11. Nerves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some guitar playing and dinner with Basil.

'You have a whole device dedicated to peeling a banana?' She's questioning, holding up a device that looks like it'd be much better at sucking people's brains out than peeling a banana. 

'Got bored one day,' he's stating, striding over to her and grabbing the device from her. He's placing it on the shelf next to her and questioning,'Are you almost done looking around?' 

'Not even close,' she's replying, throwing him a quick smile over her shoulder before going to pick up another gadget. 'What's this one do?' She's questioning, poking one of the parts that was sticking off of it. 

'Haven't quite figured that out yet,' he's replying, running a hand through his silver curls. 

She's breathing out a laugh and putting down the gadget, turning around and taking a few steps towards him. 'You want me to stop looking around don't you?' She's questioning, seeing the anxiety clouding his eyes. 

He's not replying and she's taking his silence as a yes, sighing and taking one last look around the room before slipping her hand into his. 'Come on,' she's whispering, pulling him over to the door and unlocking it, pulling it open and taking a step out of the room, having him not follow her out. 

He's dropping his hand from hers and striding towards one of the shelves, grabbing something and sliding it into his pocket. He's quickly making his way back over to her and slipping his hand back into hers, giving her a weak smile. 

'What's that then?' She's questioning, nodding towards his pocket. 

'I believe I promised you I'd play guitar,' he's replying, his free hand slipping into his pocket with the device. 

Her smile is turning into a grin and she's leaning up, pressing a kiss to the corner of his lips. 'I believe you did.'

He's smiling down at her as she lowers back onto the floor, his hand in his pocket fidgeting with the device as he tries to resist the urge to cup her cheek. She's tugging his hand and beckoning him towards the living room, sitting down on the couch once she gets there and telling him to go grab his guitar. He's flashing her a toothy grin before leaving the room, his exit followed momentarily by a series of loud crashes. She's snorting out a laugh and watching as he rushes back into the room, a rather nice looking guitar in hand. He's pulling his device out of his pocket and plugging it into the guitar jack, he's playing a few test notes before bursting out into full song. He's playing for a few minutes, immediately stopping when he sees her bite her lip because how can he continue when all he wants to do is snog her senseless?

He's quickly placing his guitar down on the floor and making his way over to her, leaning down and placing his lips on hers, planting his hands on the back of the couch behind her. She's cupping his cheeks and responding for a moment before pulling away, resting her forehead on his. 'What?' She's breathing out on a laugh, utterly confused. 

'Sorry,' he's mumbling huskily, leaning into her slightly. 

'No, don't be sorry. I quite enjoy kissing you, it's just, I don't know why you did,' she's stating, her thumbs gently stroking his cheeks. 

'You were doing a thing with your lip,' he's saying quietly, looking down at her lips. 

Her lips are turning upward into a smirk as he's repositioning himself so he's sitting next to her, resting his hands on the sides of her stomach. He's looking back up at her eyes and holding her gaze for a while, the both of them just sitting there and looking intently at each other. She's the one to break the silence, snaking a hand around his neck and whispering,'I love you, John.'

He's looking at her for a moment, fear flashing through his eyes before he whispers back,'I love you too, Clara Oswald.'

They're spending the rest of that night on the couch, talking about everything and nothing all at the same time. She ends up going home at almost midnight, miraculously not falling asleep in his arms (a feat that she will praise herself for once she leaves his flat building). She's walking home in the dark of the night, grinning like an idiot the whole way there. 

-

She's getting to work surprisingly early the next day, walking into the building with a smile on her face and practically skipping her way to her cubicle. She's falling down into her chair and booting up her computer, hearing someone knock on her cubicle door behind her. She's looking behind her and her smile is faltering slightly, seeing Basil in the entry of her cubicle. 

'Dinner?' He's questioning, his tone confident. 

She's spinning around in her chair so that she's facing him and trying to make her smile as genuine as possible. 'Where at?'

'Meet me by the front door at five and you'll find out,' he's replying cheekily. 

'Sounds like a plan,' she's stating, spinning around again so she's facing her computer. 'See you then.'

He's grinning and looking at her for a moment, not noticing the man that's striding up to him until he pushes past him and makes his way over to her. Basil's staring at the lanky grey haired figure that was now standing next to Clara's chair, his hand resting at the top of her chair. He's watching as the man leans down to place a kiss on her lips, seeing her stand up begin to stand up to meet his lips halfway. He's feels a wave of jealousy pass through him as he quickly turns on his heel and moves his legs quickly, making his way to his cubicle. Back at her desk, her lips are still interlocked with John's, neither one of them willing to separate from the other. It's him tripping as he goes to lean into the kiss the fully stops them, having her catch him and laugh as her chair rolls back and hits the cubicle wall. 

He's laughing with her for a moment, the sound of his laugh causing her heart to skip a beat. He's getting off of her after a few moments, smiling down at her as he sees that she's still grinning. He's staring at her in awe for a few moments before her grin is fading into a hint of a smile. She's shooing him off and telling him she'll see him at lunch. He's saying a quick goodbye and going to his office, sitting down at his desk and getting to work. 

They'd ate lunch in his office, him sitting at his desk and her sitting in one of the chairs in front of his desk. She'd only brought one lunch and they both just picked at it, too distracted by talking to each other to really eat. 

'We should travel somewhere,' she'd said. 

'Now?' He'd questioned, looking slightly confused. 

'No, I didn't mean at this very moment, I meant sometime soon,' she'd replied, smiling slightly at him. 

He'd agreed with her and told her he had some ideas of where they could go, which was a relief to her because it meant she didn't actually have to plan all that much. They'd sat in silence for a while after that, the both of them stealing glancing at each other when they think the other isn't looking. He's glancing up at her now to find jam on the corner of her lip and he's laughing, leaning over his desk and reaching out, his thumb swiping over the corner of her lips. He's sitting back down and licking the jam off his thumb. She's looking at him, her eyes slightly wide, trying to figure out what exactly he'd just done. 

'You had jam on your lip,' he's stating, answering her unasked question.

She's looking at him for a few more moments before going back to looking down and silently eating her sandwich. He's watching her intently as she eats, feeling his heart do something that feels almost like a flip in his chest. She's finishing her sandwich and looking up at him, her gaze catching his. She's the one to lean forward this time, placing a hand on his cheek and pressing a gentle kiss to his lips, going to pull away only to feel is lips move against hers, causing her to kiss him back. The break apart after a minute, their breathing slightly heavy. She's smiling up at him once she manages to contain her breathing and seeing him do the same to her, causing her smile to widen. 

The rest of their lunch is spent holding hands over his desk and discussing potential places they could travel to, the both of them smiling their hearts out while they talk. 

-

The end of the work day had rolled around a lot faster than she had expected. She'd glances at the click for the first time that afternoon to discover that it was only a few minutes away from five, leading her to shut down her computer and gather everything up for the day, heading for the front door to meet Basil. He was already there when she got there, grinning like an idiot at her. He's holding his hand out for her to take and she's hesitantly doing so, telling herself that he's just trying to lead he to where they're going. He's leading her out of the building and along the sidewalk, ranting about the restaurant they were going to, having her not really pay much attention. 

She's noticing a few minutes into their trip that a smile had subconsciously found its way onto her lips, his rambling reminding her too much of John. She's trying to wipe the smile off her face to no avail, her thoughts of John causing her smile to actually widen. Basil's looking back at her and his grin is somehow managing to widen as he sees her smiling. She's cursing herself for letting him see her smile this way and deciding to let go of his hand, his rant stopping abruptly once she does so. They're walking the rest of the way to the restaurant, her trying to make small talk, only to have him awkwardly attempt to spark up a conversation from her small talk. 

They're arriving at the restaurant and she's thanking every god she knows, happy that she no longer has to deal with his attempts at small talk. He'd taken her to a restaurant she'd been to before, back when she was still dating this bloke named Danny. They're sitting down at a table that's luckily relatively far away from the one she sat at Danny with, her being internally grateful for this. He's smiling at her nervously, running a hand through his quiff and glancing around the restaurant. 

She's deciding not to bring up the fact she'd been here before, thinking that it would probably only make him even more nervous. She's sitting in potentially the most awkward silence she's ever been in in her life for the next few minutes, praying that a waiter comes over sometime soon to break them of this silence. And almost if she had been reading her thoughts, the waitress comes over the exact second after she thinks that, asking them what they would like to drink. They're ordering their drinks and the waitress is quickly departing, leaving them to their previous silence. 

He's the one that decides to start up an actual conversation, asking her how her day went. She's smiling slightly, thankful he decided to break the silence, and answering his question, telling him about her lunch with John and the way the second half of her day seemed to rush by. His knee is bouncing under the table as he listens to her, his grin never leaving his face. She's asking him how is day went as she finishes and he's just shrugging, telling her he spent the majority of his day looking forward to this, a statement that caused her to snort out a laugh because this dinner was probably turning out to be an utter disappointment to him. 

They quickly loosen up around each other in the time it takes for their drinks to arrive, the both of them genuinely smiling and laughing as the waitress arrives. She's smiling at them and placing their drinks in front of them, getting their orders and telling them they're a lovely couple before quickly leaving. She's blushing lightly at this statement, reminding herself to tell the waitress they weren't a couple the next time she came around. He's continuing their conversation they were having before they were interrupted, the topic somehow veering from fish fingers to centurions. She's deciding halfway through this conversation that she actually rather enjoys talking to him. He seems to be extremely enthusiastic about whatever he talks about, even if he has no clue what he's talking about. 

They're getting their food and she stops paying attention to what he's saying, simply just watching as he flails his hands about while talking and somehow manages to eat at the same time. Their waitress passes by them a few times, throwing them a knowing smirk each time before going to serve the next table. They finish up their food and each pay for their own respective meals, him insisting to pay for hers only to have her remind him that this was not a date and pay for her own meal. He's instinctively holding her hand as they go to leave, walking out the door and standing outside in the starlight, telling her goodbye. He's placing a chaste kiss on her forehead and slipping his hand out of hers, giving her a look that causes her heart to nearly stop. She's mustering out a goodnight and with that, they're turning in opposite directions and walking towards their homes, her feeling more nervous than ever and him feeling possibly the happiest he's ever been.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Next chapter will be up by tomorrow, which will include an emotional Clara Oswald and a comforting Doctor. Thanks for reading, kudos if you enjoyed and comments are always appreciated.


	12. Comfort

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A nerd comforting his girlfriend with his nerd stuff.

He's sighing as he's sinking into his couch, texting Clara for what may possibly be the fiftieth time. He'd begun texting her as soon as he got home, knowing that she was still at dinner with Basil. He'd wanted to interrupt their dinner, make sure that it's didn't go well so they wouldn't do it again. Of course though she never answered the texts he sent, meaning she was probably actually having a good time and didn't want a distraction. he's sighing and placing his phone on his chest. He's resting his head back on the arm of the couch and resting his hands on his stomach, waiting for a reply from her. He's hearing his doorbell ring and he's running a hand over his face before sitting up, letting his phone drop to his lap and just staring at his door for a few moments. 

He's finally finding the will to stand when he hears his doorbell ring again, walking over to the door and opening it, immediately being attacked by someone wrapping their arms around him and squeezing him tightly. He's looking down and seeing the top of her head, causing him to raise an eyebrow. Her head is shifting and she's looking up at him, her eyes sad, but a smile on her lips. 

'Hey,' she's whispering, her tone earning a slightly worried look from him. 

'Are you okay?' He's questioning, his hands staying firmly positioned at his sides. 

She's not saying anything in replying and he knows her answer, knowing that she's too strong to admit she's not okay. He's finally moving his arms from his sides and wrapping them around her, having her bury her head into his chest again. They're standing there for a few moment like this before he decides it'd be best to pull her inside so they could have a little more privacy. He's taking his arms off her and quietly telling her to let go of him, having her arms drop from him. She's looking up at him, a questioning look in her eyes, clouded by sadness. He's carefully wrapping his hand around hers, pulling her into his flat and pushing the door shut behind her. 

They're sitting down in front of the door, him not quite willing to sit on the couch. She's sitting with her back against the door and he's in front of her, sliding his other hand into hers and searching her face for a hint of anything else other than sorrow. 

'Hey,' he's whispering, squeezing her hands lightly. 

She's looking up into his eyes and he's smiling slightly, seeing her lips twitch upward ever so slightly. 'I have an idea, you stay here,' he's saying quietly, dropping his hands from hers. 

He's starting to get up before leaning down and placing a kiss on her lips, standing up fully now and leaving the living room. She's dropping her head back against the door and sighing, linking her hands in her lap and nervously twiddling her thumbs. He's stumbling back into the room with a handful of gadgets, flashing her a toothy grin before sitting back down in front of her. He's dumping the items on the floor in front of him and telling her to pick one out. She's dropping her head down from the door and looking down at the items on the floor, picking up a watch and looking it over. 

'What's this one do?' She's questioning, her voice quiet. 

He's smiling widely and taking the watch from her, securing it on his wrist. 'Close your eyes.'

'Why?' She's questioning, skeptical of what he was going to do. 

'Just do as you're told,' he's stating, placing his thumb and forefinger on two buttons of the watch. 

She's closing her eyes and he's pressing the buttons, vanishing from sight. 'Keep your eyes closed,' he's whispering, leaning forward and pressing his lips to hers. She's smiling as she feels his lips on hers, beginning to move her lips against his only to feel him pull away. 

'Open your eyes,' he's murmuring against her lips. 

She's opening her eyes to find absolutely nothing in front of her, causing her eyes to widen. 'Doctor?' 

'Clara,' he's muttering huskily, his breath warm against her lips, causing her to jump. 

Her eyes are widening even more and she's grinning,'Oh my God you're invisible! That's so cool!'

'No need to be so loud, I'm right here,' he's saying, resting his forehead on hers. 

She's breathing out a laugh and closing her eyes, bowing her head and smiling. He's pressing the buttons on the watch again and coming back into view, taking off the watch and placing it in the stack on the floor. He's taking a pair of sunglasses out of the pile and holding them in one hand while moving his other hand over to her, placing his index finger on her chin and moving her head up, letting his finger longer there as he carefully puts the sunglasses on her. He's smiling slightly as he sees her looking at him curiously through the sunglasses, letting his finger fall from her chin and move up to the bride of the sunglasses, carefully pressing it. Her eyes are widening as she sees different facts about him light up the lenses of the sunglasses. 

'What?' She's breathing out, trying to read all the small text on the screens. 

'It's a scanner,' he's explaining,'It'll tell you basic facts about the person you scan. If you want to know something specific, just think what you want to know and it'll pop up on the screen.'

Her cheeks are turning a dark red as she accidentally thinks of something she didn't want to know, reading the first few words before quickly snapping her eyes shut. She's thinking of the things she actually did want to know and opening her eyes, smiling slightly as she sees what's on the screen. 

_In love with: Clara Oswald_

'What're you looking?' He's questioning, slightly scared. 

'Nothing much. Just who you're in love with.' She's replying, trying to think of something new to look up. 

'Why were you blushing then?' He's questioning, raising an eyebrow. 

'No reason,' she's replying too quickly, bowing her head so her hair curtains her face and the glasses. 

'Give me those back,' he's saying, holding out his hand. 

'In a moment, I want to see how old you are,' she's saying, shielding the glasses with her hands so he can't take them. 

His eyes are widening and he's reaching over, grabbing both her wrists and pinning them up against the door with one hand, quickly taking the glasses off her with his hand that was now free of her wrist. He's staring into her wide doe eyes and breathing heavily, not noticing that her breathing had stopped completely. He's letting go of her wrist and sitting back down, calming his breath before apologising. She's letting out the breath she had been holding and simply just staring at him, her mind playing through what had just happened. She'd gotten a glimpse at his age before she felt his hands roughly grabbing her wrists and taking off the sunglasses. She's looking him up and down, trying to find out exactly why the glasses had said the age they had. 

'I'm fifty seven,' he's stating quietly, looking down at his shoes and frowning slightly. 

She's looking at him for a moment before stating,'Your glasses said you were over two thousand years old.'

'Must be faulty,' he's mumbling quickly, folding the glasses up and shoving them into his pocket. 

She wants to ask him why he was so concerned about her finding out his age, but she's deciding against it as she sees the look on his face. She's reaching over and holding his hand, saying his name gently and gaining his attention. He's looking up at her, his eyes filled with guilt. She's cupping his cheek and shifting closer to him, looking into his eyes and smiling sadly. 

'John,' she's saying, causing his expression to twist into something that almost looks like disgust. 

'Don't call me that,' he's whispering, his voice filled with self loathe. 

She's searching his eyes and then nodding slightly, moving even closer to him, letting out a shaky breath as she watching his eyes dart from her her eyes to her lips and then quickly back to her eyes. 'How about we test out another one of your inventions?' She's suggesting, looking at him empathetically. 

'Would you mind if we did something else?' He's asking nervously, glancing down at the gadgets on the floor. 

'Of course not,' she's replying, placing a kiss on his lips before taking her hand off his cheek and standing up, pulling him up with her. 'What would you like to do, Doctor?' 

He's not reply and simply just tugging on her hand, guiding her to his bedroom. He's sitting them down at the foot of the bed, not giving her a chance to say anything before encasing her in his arms and holding her tightly, burying his face into her shoulder and letting out a shaky breath. She's wrapping her arms around him loosely and resting her chin on his shoulder, trying to figure out what caused this. She's burying a hand into his hair and playing with his curls, trying to comfort him to the best of her ability. 

'I love you, Clara Oswald,' he's whispering, his voice dripping with sorrow. 

'I love you too, Doctor,' she's saying, moving her chin off his shoulder and pressing a kiss to the spot it used to be. 

His arms are tightening around her and his body's beginning to shake with silent sobs, causing her to hold him tighter in attempt to get him to stop sobbing. 

'I never told you,' he's whimpering nuzzling into the crook of her neck, pressing gentle kisses there, mumbling 'I love you's in between each kiss. 

'What did you never tell me?' She's questioning, feeling his lips warm on her neck. 

'I love you,' he's replying, his voice clearer now than all of the times he had mumbled it into her neck. 

'What do you mean? You've told me that plenty of times before,' she's saying, her voice sweet and slightly confused. 

'I didn't mean that. I meant something else,' he's whispering, not giving her anything else to go on. 

'Do you want to tell me now?' She's questioning, trying to get him to tell her so it wouldn't burden him anymore. 

'I can't,' he's replying, dropping his arms from her. He's jumping up off the bed and pacing to the head of the bed, sitting down next to his pillow and burying his hands into his hair, running his hands through his hair, aggravated. She's getting up and walking over to him, sitting down on the bed next to him, careful not to disturb him too much. She's reaching up and placing one of her hands on the one of his that's ruffling through his hair, causing him to immediately cease his movements. She's curling her fingers around his hand and taking it out of his hair, putting their linked hands on the bed in between them, readjusting their hands so their fingers are entwined. 

'I've an idea,' she's stating quietly, looking over at him and smiling slightly. 'Lie down,' she's instructing, letting her hand slip from his. 

He's doing what was instructed of him and watching to see what she does next, seeing her take her shoes off and run a hand through her hair, moving around the bed and laying on the other side of the bed, moving towards him until her leg is swung over him and her arms are wrapped around him. 'Now sleep,' she's commanding, resting her head on his chest and closing her eyes. 

He's looking down at her and cautiously snaking an arm around under her, placing his hand on her hip. 'I'm not tired,' he's stating. 

'Don't care. You're gonna rest and then when you wake up you're gonna tell me what you couldn't tell me tonight,' she's saying, her eyes still closed, a small smile playing at her lips. 

He's sighing and looking up at the ceiling, simply just laying there for a while before finally closing his eyes, letting sleep overtake him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, just to make things clear, Clara was emotional because she had just been on edge for a few hours when she was at dinner with Basil. Okay? Okay. Thanks for reading! Leave a kudos if you enjoyed and comments are always appreciated.


	13. Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Slightly more adult chapter** Clara goes for a walk and the Doctor gets a little frisky.

She's waking up to find him still asleep under her, so she's simply just laying there, enjoying the feeling of him under her. He's stirring awake after a few minutes, his hand sliding from her stomach to her hair, his long fingers running through her hair slowly, a gentle kiss being placed on the top of her head. 

'Go to sleep,' she's hearing him murmur sleepily, his chin resting on the top of her head. 

'Not tired,' she's whispering, nuzzling into his chest. 

He's letting out a deep breath before closing his eyes, mumbling something about him being tired. 

'What time is it?' She's questioning quietly after a moment, not wanting to have to turn around and look at the clock. 

He's sighing and opening his eyes, looking over at the clock. 'A little bit past midnight,' he's replying, moving his hand out of her hair and back to her hip. 

'I'm going to get up,' she's stating, beginning to push herself up only to feel his hand on her waist push her down. 

He's turning on his side and letting his hand slip off her waist, wrapping his other arm around her and pulling her into his chest. He's nuzzling into her hair and closing his eyes. 'Stay with me,' he's whispering, his voice heavy with sleep. 

'I really need to get up,' she's whispering, her voice almost desperate. 

'Five minutes,' he's muttering, holding her tighter. She's sighing and nuzzling into him, resting her hands on his chests. He's smiling into her hair, murmuring,'Mine.'

She's laying there a few minutes, feeling his arms loosen around her, his breaths becoming shallow. She's wiggling out if his arms and making her way out of his room, stopping as she gets to the front door. She's releasing a sigh before quickly making her way back to his room, sitting down on the corner of the bed. Her hand is carefully slipping into his pocket, extracting the glasses from it and pulling her hand back slowly. She's sliding the glasses on and pressing the bridge of the glasses like she'd seen him do early, watching at the glasses light up with information. She's thinking about his age and the information is popping up on the screen, a few other things under his age. 

She's reading down the list of things which includes his full name, birthday, height, age, gender, and marriage status. She's raising an eyebrow at the last one and reading it, her eyes widening as she does so. 

_Marriage status: Previously married to River Song; now widowed._

She's quickly taking off the glasses and placing them as gently as she can on the nightstand, hoping off the bed, not entirely caring if she wakes him anymore or not. She's making her way out of his flat, running down the stairs of the flat building and pushing the door open to outside, taking in a deep breath of fresh air as it reaches her. She's moving her legs quickly, determined to rid herself of the nagging thoughts about his dead wife. She's going wherever her feet take her, not entirely caring where she ends up. It's an hour before she finally comes to her senses and finds herself quite a ways from his flat. She's pulling out her phone to see what time it is, only to see a text that she'd gotten almost an hour ago staring at her. 

_Where are you?_

She's staring at her phone screen for a while, trying to come up with a good response only to find her mind blank. She's putting her phone back into her pocket and beginning to head back to his flat, knowing he'd be worried if she didn't come back. Although part of her mind told her that he wouldn't worry. She was only a way to get over his dead wife, after all. She's pushing those thoughts aside, deciding to question him as soon as she gets back to his flat to see if that part of her mind was telling the truth. She's taking her phone out of her pocket again, thinking of calling him and apologising for just up and leaving, but then she's seeing another text from him. 

_Are you okay?_

She's thinning her lips in contemplation, deciding it'd be best to call him. She's sitting down on the curb and pressing the call button, putting her phone up to her ear and listening as it only rings once. 

'Clara?' He's saying, his voice sounding worried. 

'John,' she's stating, a smile smile finding its way onto her lips at his concern. 

'Are you alright?' He's questioning, letting the name thing slip just this once. 

'I'm fine, Doctor. I just went for a walk. I'm on my way back right now.' She's saying, running a hand through her hair. 

There's silence on his end for a little while before she hears a deep breath out, knowing that he's thinking about what to say next. She decides it'd probably be best for her to say something, knowing that whatever he was going to say was probably going to be very poorly thought out. 

'I love you,' she's saying, staring at the building ahead of her. 

'How far away are you?' He's questioning, causing her to frown. 

'Half an hour, I think,' she's replying, her voice unsure. 

She's hearing bed springs squeak from his side of the phone, indicating that he had sat up. 'I suppose I'll seen you then, Clara Oswald.'

'Goodbye, Doctor,' she's saying, her voice slightly sad. 

'Bye, Clara,' he's saying, hanging up the call. 

She's bowing her head and letting out a shaky breath, sliding her phone back into her pocket. She's quickly pushing herself up and rushing to his flat, making it there with ten minutes to spare. She's turning the door handle to see if it's unlocked, and to her surprise, it is. She's pushing it open to find him on the couch, his hair disheveled and his cheeks tinted pink. She's stepping into his flat and watching as his gaze darts towards her, noticing that his pupils were dilated. 

'Thought you wouldn't be home for another ten minutes?' He's murmuring, his tone questioning.

'Rushed here,' she's stating, slightly breathless.

She's noticing the way he shifts at her breathlessness and raises an eyebrow, taking a step closer to him. 'Can I borrow something to wear?' 

'Yeah, just get whatever you want out of my dresser,' he's replying, looking down out his feet. 

She's thanking him and quickly making her way to his room, thankful that she was finally able to get out of her work clothes. Granted, her work clothes weren't all that terrible, she actually rather liked them, but there came a time when wearing a tight skirt and tights become exhausting. She's pulling open the first drawer his dresser once she gets to his room, seeing it overflowing with pants and quickly shutting it, opening the next drawer. She's finding a clutter of trousers in this drawer, digging through them until she found some suitable trousers for sleeping in, throwing them onto the floor behind her and looking in the next drawer, thankful to find T-shirts there. She's grabbing the first one she sees and shutting the drawer, resolving to help him organise him dresser at some point later in time. She's quickly undressing and putting on his clothes, sitting down on his bed and enjoying the feeling of his soft clothes on her skin. 

Then she's noticing a smell that she hadn't noticed earlier. The smell's assaulting her nose and she's wincing slightly, recognising the smell immediately. Sex. The scent of arousal and sweat mixing together to make the distinguishable smell that could not be anything else but sex. And then she's remembering his disheveled state from early and her cheeks are turning rosy red, imagining him doing something like that. She's cautiously making her way back to the living, sitting down on the couch next to him and casting a quick glance to his trousers. 

'You do anything while I was gone?' She's questioning, her voice higher than usual. 

'No,' he's replying too quickly, folding his hands in his lap and shifting slightly. 

They're not saying anything for awhile, her reaching over and placing her hand on top of his linked ones. She's hearing him let out a slightly startled grunt as she does so, closing his eyes and taking deep breaths in and out. 'Are you alright?' She's questioning, knowing that he's probably not seeing as though she interrupted him right after a very intimate moment with himself. 

'Yeah, just tired,' he's murmuring, casting a quick glance at her. 

'Perhaps you should go get some rest,' she's suggesting, looking at him lovingly. 

'Yeah,' he's breathing out, going to get up before feeling her hand on her cheek, turning his head, her lips being planted on his. She'd meant for it to be a quick kiss, just a simple goodnight shown through actions instead of words. But instead it's turning into something else, his lips moving hungrily against hers the instant she puts her lips on his. He's pushing her down onto the couch, pinning her wrists down on the armrest. She's pulling her legs up onto the couch, curling them up under him. He's groaning into the kiss and removing his lips from hers as he hears a breathy moan escape her, kissing his way down down her chin and placing his lips on her neck. He's sucking there and hearing her breath pick up, her hips bucking slightly under him. 

He's biting her neck at one point, a moan escaping her lips as he glides his tongue across the part of her neck his mouth is currently occupying. He's hearing her say his name on a breath out, his actual name, and he's stopping everything he was doing. He's looking up at her, his eyes wide and filled with something that looked close to regret. He's apologising before quickly getting off of her, striding to his room and slamming the door shut behind him. She's laying on the couch a few minutes after, trying to control her breathing. She's placing her hands on her lower abdomen, trying to ignore the way that action sends a jolt of arousal through her and adds to the already unbelievable amount of arousal she was currently faced with. 

She's sighing and getting up, making her way over to his room. She's hearing grunts from his room as she gets to the door, blushing for the second time that day. She's knocking on his door, hearing the grunts cease, replaced by heavy breathing. 'Doctor?' She's questioning, just loud enough for him to be able to hear. 

'Clara,' he's responding, his voice exhausted and almost ashamed. 

'Can I come in?' She's questioning, knowing the answer would probably be no. 

'Give me a second,' he's saying, a loud crash coming from his side of the door and then footsteps. She's hearing bedsprings, the next words out of his mouth surprising her,'You can come in now.' 

She's hesitantly opening the door and seeing him sitting cross legged on the bed, a blanket wrapped around his frame. She's noting the fact that the smell from earlier had gotten stronger before cautiously stepping into his room and closing the door behind her. She's taking rather confidant steps to his bed, getting onto the bed and crawling over to him, sitting down next to him. 

'Hey,' she's whispering, placing her hand on his knee. 

'Hi,' he's saying shakily, wrapping his blanket tighter around himself. 

'You don't need to hide yourself from me, Doctor,' she's saying calmly, sliding her hand up his knee and onto his thigh. She's hearing his breath hitch and looking up into his eyes to see them scared, but lustful. 'Is this okay?' She's questioning, stroking his thigh lightly. 

He's only able to manage a nod, too distracted by her hand on his thigh to properly form words. He wants to duck down and capture her lips with his, but he's frozen in his spot, the only thing he's properly managing to do is part his lips slightly. She's laughing slightly as she sees his lips part, knowing that he wants to kiss her. She's leaning up and placing her lips on his, the kiss much gentler than the one earlier. He's hesitantly moving a hand up to her cheek and cupping it, tilting his head slightly and deepening the kiss slightly. She's sliding her hand further up his thigh and pushing aside the blanket draped over his upper thigh, cautiously wrapping her fingers around his hard member through the fabric of his trousers. 

'Still okay?' She's questioning against his lips, waiting for his response before kissing him again. 

'Not sure,' he's breathing out, his voice not very confidant. 

'Do you want me to stop?' she's questioning, sliding her hand back to his upper thigh. 

He's groaning and bowing his head, having a battle with himself over what to say. He's apologising before hunching over, pulling his blanket over his head. She's wrapping her arms around him from the side and resting her head on his shoulder, letting a sigh slip past her lips. 

'I love you, Doctor,' she's whispering after a beat of silence, her eyes focused on the door in front of her. 

He's moving his head up and letting the blanket slip off of it, looking over at her on his shoulder and frowning slightly. He's looking away from her and resting his head on hers, letting go of the blanket he had draped around himself and letting it simple rest upon his shoulders. She's eventually falling asleep, having him look over at him and laugh gently once he sees that she's fallen asleep. He's carefully moving out from under her and laying her down on the bed, pressing a gentle kiss to her lips. 

'I love you, Clara Oswald,' he's whispering, laying down next to her and gazing at her until he can't keep his eyes open any longer. He's falling asleep next to her, his arm subconsciously finding his way around her hips and pulling her closer, snuggling into her. 

They both sleep contently that night, neither of them having any clue about the storm that was going to erupt between them tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Had to rewrite this chapter a few times because I kept on coming up with plot lines that didn't make sense. I'm not very proud of this one, but I guess it's good enough. Kudos if you liked and comments are always appreciated.


	14. Arguments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Talking about River and traveling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to publish! It was a pain in the ass to write and I had to rewrite half of it multiple times. Still not entirely satisfied with it, but eh. *shrugs*

She's waking up to find him already awake, her brown eyes meeting his blue ones. His hand is finding hers and he's squeezing it lightly, mumbling,'Good morning.'

'Morning,' she's whispering, leaning forward and placing a gentle kiss on his lips. 

He's smiling at her sleepily and moving his head down to her chest, nuzzling into it and wrapping his arms around her torso. She's smiling slightly and returning his embrace, burying her face into his hair and breathing him in. She wants their whole day to be like this. Just them, content, happy. But she knows it can't be like that. At some point today they were going to have to talk about his dead wife, which could potentially lead to arguing. She's laying with him for as long as possible, trying to push away the thought of his wife, only to have her efforts fail. She's eventually pulling her arms away from him, the thought becoming too much for her to handle. 

'We need to talk about River,' she's saying, her voice quiet and devoid of confidence. 

His eyes are widening slightly and he's looking up at her. 'How do you know about River?' He's questioning, his brow dropping. 

'Saw her name yesterday on the sunglasses,' she's lying. 

He's sighing and propping himself up, looking down at her and frowning slightly. 'That's what I was afraid of,' he's breathing out, running his free hand through his silver curls. He's searching her face for a moment, trying to see if she knows that they were married. He can tell simply by the look in her eyes that she does. 'She was my wife,' he's stating, a look of defeat crossing his features. 

'I'm well aware of that,' she's saying, her tone almost warning, telling him to explain himself better. 

'What do you want to know about her then?' He's questioning, raising an eyebrow. 

'How long were you together? How did you meet? How did she die?' She's saying, her voice curious. 

He's sighing and beginning,'I have no clue how long we were together. It felt like forever, but at the same time it felt like no time at all.' He's gaining a sad smile from her. 'We met in a library. She was the oldest I'd ever seen her and I was the youngest she'd ever seen me.' 

He's pausing, knowing that she's going to question what he just said. She's simply just raising an eyebrow and he's explaining,'River liked to invent things, like me. She had this device called a vortex manipulator that she could travel in time with.'

Her eyes are widening,'Hold on, you're telling me that time travel is actually possible?'

He's laughing sadly and bowing his head, the sorrow in his laugh making her feel like she was shattering on the inside. 'Time travel has always been possible, Clara,' he's saying quietly after a moment, looking up at her with tear filled eyes. She's seeing an image of him in her head looking at her almost the same way, quickly shaking her head to rid herself of this image, knowing that he's never actually looked at her this way before. 

She's deciding to get off the topic of travel as quickly as possible and move back to the topic of his wife. 'Do you have a picture of River?' She's questioning. 

He's staring at her for a few seconds before nodding and quickly wiping his eyes with his forearm, twisting so that he's facing his nightstand and grabbing his phone off of it. He's twisting so he's facing her again and turning on his phone, searching though his pictures for a photo of River. She's seeing his eyes suddenly turn sad again as he stops scrolling, staring intently at his screen as he taps on a picture. 

'You don't have to show me a picture of her if you don't want to,' she's saying, slightly mad at herself for making the suggestion in the first place. 

'No, it's fine, if you want to see a picture of her you can.' He's replying gruffly, his voice distant. 

She's looking at him for a few seconds before questioning,'Why do you look so sad?' 

He's glancing up at her before quickly darting his gaze back to his phone and replying,'Just ran across a picture of an old friend.' 

'Looks like they were more than just a friend to you by the look in your eyes.' She's stating, the look in her eyes becoming sad. 

He's shrugging slightly and tapping away from the picture, finding a picture of River and handing his phone to her, observing her expression as she looks at the photo. It's not the woman with the honestly quite impressive hair that she notices first, but instead the man standing next to her. Because this man was Basil. 

'Why is River with Basil?' she's questioning, causing him to frown slightly. 

'They used to be friends,' He's replying, his voice containing a hint of sadness. 

She's sighing quietly and swiping to the next picture, assuming it was another picture of River, only to find that it most certainly was not. 

It was a picture of them. She hadn't remembered taking it and she's certain that she would've remembered taking such a picture due to the fact that the setting around them was honestly quite extraordinary. The grass behind them was a light shade of purple and the sky above them pitch black, the stars in the sky lighting up the scene immensely. She's feeling her heart flutter slightly as she sees the way he's grinning at the camera, looking over at herself to find her lips planted on his cheek and her eyes closed contently.

His voice is cutting through her thoughts and quickly gaining her attention. 'Are you almost done?' He's asking. 

'Yeah,' she's replying, handing him his phone back without scrolling back to the picture of River. He's taking his phone from her and his expression is quickly becoming one of guilt as he sees the picture on the screen. He's hastily placing his phone on his nightstand and looking over at her, waiting for her to say something. 'Why do you have a picture of us that I don't remember taking?' She's questioning after a beat of silence. 

He's not replying and looking down at the bed, wanting nothing more than to leave and never have this conversation. But it had to be had. It was bound to come up sooner or later. He's putting his arm down that was propping him up and collapsing down onto the mattress so that he's on his back, his head turned towards hers. He's placing his hands on top of his stomach and pressing his lips together before replying,'Time travel.' 

Her eyes are searching his face, trying to see if he's lying only to find no signs whatsoever of him lying. 'So we...travel in time together?' 

He's taking a hand off his stomach and running it through his hair, letting out a sigh before answering,'No, we just travel.'

'What does time travel have to do with us traveling?' She's questioning, sounding slightly aggravated.

He's muttering something and she's raising an eyebrow, daring him to repeat what he just said. 'I travel with a future version of you,' he's repeating, his voice louder this time. 

She's narrowing her eyes at him,'What the hell do you mean you travel with a future version of me?'

'I travel with you in the future, what's so hard to understand about that?' 

Her eyes are widening and her face is being overtaken by a look of anger. 'Did you ever once stop and consider that maybe the me right here and now would want to travel with you?' She's questioning, her voice wavering between anger and annoyance. 

His gaze is lingering on her for a moment before a sigh is escaping his lips and he's replying,'I didn't think you would want to.'

'You're an idiot,' she's sighing before shifting forward and resting her forehead on his chest, gently wrapping her arms around him. 

He's saying nothing and hesitantly wrapping an arm around her, not sure if she wants him to return her affection. 'Lets go somewhere,' she's whispering, nuzzling into him. 

'Shouldn't we eat breakfast first?' He's questioning, looking down at her. 

'Can't you take us somewhere to eat breakfast?' She's shooting back, taking her forehead off his chest and craning her neck to look up at him, their faces millimetres away from each other. 

'I suppose so, but I really don't want to go anywhere today,' he's replying, beyond exhausted. 

'Well, I do,' she's saying angrily. And then she's wiggling her way out of his arm and getting out of his bed. 

He's groaning and burying his face into a pillow, not wanting to stand up. 

'I'm leaving,' she's stating after a moment, beginning to make her way to his bedroom door only to have his hand shoot over towards her and grab her wrists. 

'Please don't leave,' he's begging, sitting up. 

'Why should it even matter to you? Can't you just jump forward in time and run away with the future version of me?' She's shooting back, frustrated. 

'I want to run away with the you right here and now, I don't want to run away with the future you,' he's replying, his voice pleading. 

'Seems like you had no problem running away with the future me in the past,' she's exclaiming, trying to pull her wrist from his grip to no avail. 

'Clara,' he's begging, pulling on her wrist. 

'Let go of me, John,' she's saying, giving him a look that could kill. 

He knows he should give her space. Should let her leave and process all that she had just been told, then maybe come back to him in a few days and they would have a calm conversation about all of this. He's leaning forward and placing a kiss on the back of her hand before dropping her wrist, giving her a look that looked somewhat like a wounded owl. She's sighing heavily before making her way out of his room without a word, the sound of his front door slamming following her exit a few seconds later. He's collapsing onto his bed, burying his face in his hands and groaning. 

It was going to be a long couple of days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed! Leave a kudos if you'd like to and comments are always appreciated.


	15. A Change of Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clara receives an unexpected visitor as she mopes over her and John's fight, and the visitor turns out to be much welcomed, as they give Clara comfort and advice on how to move on from here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it's been about twenty years since I've last updated. I apologise for that. This story has just not clicked with me for the past few months and I had to stop writing for a while and come back with a clear mind to continue writing. Good news is, here's another chapter! No clue when I'll update next, seeing as though I've just started another fic that I'm much more focused on than this one at the moment.

She's pushing open her flat door and quickly making her way to the kitchen, pulling a bottle of wine out of her cupboard along with a wine glass, hastily pouring some wine into the glass before making her way to her bedroom with the glass and bottle in hand. She's placing the bottle on her nightstand and taking a big swig from her glass, collapsing onto her bed with an exasperated sigh. 

What the hell had he been thinking? Traveling with a future version of her without asking the her here and now if she wanted to travel with him. She's emptying the rest of the contents of her wine glass, reaching over for the bottle on the nightstand, only to stop halfway when she heard a loud crash come from her living room. She's hastily getting out of bed and bolting to her living room, all thoughts of drinking away her problems long forgotten. She's getting to her living room doorway, shouting a phrase that she's soon to regret,'I'm warning you, I know Taekwondo.'

She's hearing a snort and her eyes are searching the room, finding the Doctor leaned over in the corner, picking up some fallen books. Her eyes are widening, anger bubbling up inside of her,'What the hell do you think you're doing here?'

'Picking you up so we can go and travel,' He's replying, sounding like the answer was obvious. 

It's taking her a moment to soak in his answer, looking him up and noticing the fact that he was dressed in that ridiculous pyjama and dress coat combo, his hair longer now and lighter. 'When're you from?' She's questioning, anger still evident in her voice. 

'About a year from now,' he's glancing down at a device on his wrist,'I think.'

She's sighing, her anger dissipating as she realises that this stupid fight was already behind this future version of him. He's putting the last book back on the shelf in front of him, standing up and turning around, grinning at her stupidly. A sigh is escaping her, deciding she would much rather drink until she couldn't feel anymore than spend one more second with the far too optimistic man standing in her living room. She's heading towards her room and sitting down on her bed, picking up the wine bottle from her bedside table and taking a long drink from it, not noticing him enter her room until she felt the bed shift. The bottle is being hastily lowered as she glares over at him, seeing him smiling at her sadly. 'Don't you have better places to be?' She's spitting out, looking back at the bottle in front of her. 

'There's no better place to be than right here with you,' he's replying, his voice sincere. 

She's biting her lip and trying not to smile, looking at him over her shoulder. 'Why'd you come to visit me in the past? I thought you only travelled with future versions of me,' she's questioning, seeing him nervously shift at her question. 

'I stopped traveling with future versions of you after today,' he's replying, scratching the back of his neck. 

She's turning around to look at him and furrowing her brow, asking,'So you travel with past versions of me now?' 

He's shaking his head no,'I don't time travel anymore. This has been the first time in a while.' She's giving him a questioning look and he's continuing it,'You told me no more time traveling so I don't do it anymore.'

'I was the only thing that made you stop?' She's questioning. 

He's scratching the back of his neck and explaining,'You mean a lot to me, Clara. I'd do anything you asked me to.'

There's a long moment of silence before she's saying anything, and when she does, she's not quite sure what persuades her to say what she's about to. 'I need to ask you a question.'

'Ask away.'

'Why did you come back here if I told you to stop traveling?'

He's breathing out a laugh, but to her ears it sounds fake. 'I'm running from something.'

Seeing right through him, she's sighing, knowing that he was running from her. Leaning forward, she's resting her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes and trying to think of what she could've possibly done. She's feeling a hand on her lower back and turning her head to look at him, her expression confused. He's smiling at her and almost as if he's reading her mind, he's whispering,'It's nothing you did, Clara.'

Then he's laughing and informing,'Well, technically it was something we both did.'

She's raising an eyebrow at him, silently asking him to elaborate. He's smiling sweetly,'I probably shouldn't be telling you this, but you'll probably slap me if I don't tell you why I'm running.'

That's earning a small smile from her, causing his smile to widen as he casually says,'We're getting married.'

Her eyes widen, her lips parting slightly as she stares at him. 'We're getting...married?' 

'Yup,' a hint of a smile playing on his lips as he puts his arm around her, rubbing her shoulder reassuringly. She's smiling and looking up at him, biting her lip and holding back a laugh. 

'We're going to get married!' She's exclaiming, attacking him with a hug. 

He's grinning and wrapping his arms around her in response, burying his face in her hair. They stay like this for a while, her grinning like a complete idiot, even though she really shouldn't be happy at the moment. She's quickly turning her head up towards him, a childlike sense of wonder about her as she gazes up at him. Running her hand along the beginnings of a beard, she's laughing, leaning up and caressing his lips with hers. He's smiling against her lips and sliding his hand up her back, grazing the side of her neck and cupping her cheek. 

Her lips leave his and she's laughing lightly, murmuring,'Let's go on an adventure.' 

He's smiling sadly at her,'You need to go talk to the version of me your upset with first.'

'Can we please just go on one adventure?' She's pleading. 

'I'm sorry, Clara, but you and past me need to really need to fix things.'

She's sighing and burying her face in his chest, her words coming out muffled as she speaks,'You hate me right now. I doubt you would want things to go back to normal.'

He's laughing at that,'Clara Oswald, I have never hated you for one second of my life.' 

'For some reason I don't believe that,' she's grumbling. 

He's placing his index finger on her chin and tilting her head up towards him, a small smile on his lips,'If I recall correctly, I am currently in my flat, heartbroken, believing that I've just lost the love of my life.' 

She's deciding that attempting to fix things is at least worth a try and giving him one last peck on the lips before standing up, leaving her room without a word and grabbing her phone on the way out of her flat, her mind set on one thing. Working things out with the Doctor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I want to apologise again for not updating in forever. I suck, I know. Kudos if you enjoyed and comments are always appreciated.


End file.
